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The  beginnings  of  Buddhist  art,  and  other 


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CHINESE 
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THE   BEGINNINGS  OF 

BUDDHIST  ART 

AND  OTHER  ESSAYS 
IN  INDIAN  AND  CENTRAL-ASIAN  ARCHEOLOGY 


BY 

A.  FOUCHER 

OF    THE   UNIVERSITY    OF    PARIS 

REVISED   BY  THE  AUTHOR  AND  TRANSLATED  BY 

L.  A.  THOMAS  and  F.  W.  THOMAS 

WITH  A  PREFACE  BY  THE  LATTER 


PARIS 
PAUL  GEUTHNER 

13,  RUE  JACOB,  13 


LONDON 
HUMPHREY  MILFORD 


AMEN  CORNER.  E.  C. 


MCMXVll 


THE  BEGINNINGS 


OF 


BUDDHIST  ART 


Printed  for  PAUL  GEUTHNER  by 
A.  BURDIN.  —  F.  GAVLTIER  and  A.  THtBERT,  Succ",  Augers,  France. 


HARITt.  THE    BUDDHIST   MADONNA 


Essay   IX 


.■aiK^Kim 


Dsmoulin  lr»r*».  Sc 


PAINTING   FROM   TURFAN 

NOW  IN  MUSEUM  FUR  VOI-KERKUNDE,  BERLIN 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF 

BUDDHIST  ART 

AND  OTHER  ESSAYS 
IN  INDIAN   AND  CENTRAL-ASIAN   ARCHEOLOGY 


BY 

A.  FOUCHER 

OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  PARIS 

REVISED  BY  THE  AUTHOR  AND  TRANSLATED  BY 

L.  A.  THOMAS  and  F.  W-  THOMAS 

WITH  A  PREFACE  BY  THE  LATTER 


TARIS 
PAUL  GEUTHNER 

13,  RUE  JACOB,  13 


LONDON 
HUMPHREY  MILFORD 

AMEN  CORNER,  E.  C 


MCMXVII 


v/  y  ;^c\3 


^DEDICATED 

WITH  PROFOUND  RESPECT  AND  AFFECTIONATE  REGARD 

TO 

M.  AUGUSTE  BARTH 

Member  of  the  Institute  : 

MASTER    OF    PENETRATING    AND  CREATIVE   CRITICISM 
IN  ALL  BRANCHES  OF  SANSKRIT  LEARNING 


Jane  1914. 


"PREFACE 


To  the  rather  limited  circle  of  scholars  interested  in  Indian  Art  and 
Archeology  the  work  of  M.  Foucher  requires  no  introduction.  His  numerous 
studies  devoted  to  these  subjects,  and  in  particular  his  comprehensive  treatise 
on  the  Grasco-Buddhist  Art  of  Gandhdra,  have  fully  established  his  position 
as  a  leader  in  this  sphere.  A  collective  edition  of  his  essays  and  addresses, 
dispersed  in  various  serial  and  periodical  publications,  will  therefore  be  sure 
of  a  warm  welcome. 

The  translators  do  not  disavow  a  hope  that  this  English  version  may  appeal 
not  only  to  those  readers,  chiefly  in  the  East,  to  whom  the  author  s  original 
presents  a  difficulty,  but  also  to  a  rather  wider  public  in  England  and 
America.  Aware  of  the  interest  which  in  Paris  attended  the  delivery  of 
M.  Boucher's  lectures,  they  would  regret  ij  the  charm  had  so  far  evaporated  in 
translation  as  to  forfeit  a  share  in  the  growing  appreciation  of  Oriental  art. 

Buddhism  —  for  it  is  especially  Buddhist  monuments  that  are  here  sur- 
veyed —  is.  of  course,  a  subject  oj  vast  extent.  We  may  add  that  it  is  a  highly 
organic  subject,  and  that  the  study  of  it  is  still  at  a  specially  interesting  stage, 
the  stage  of  discovery.  We  cannot  touch  it  in  any  part  without  evoking  res- 
ponses from  distant  and  unexpected  quarters .  We  might  compare  it  to  a  magic 
carpet ;  we  fix  upon  some  well  defined  topic,  relating,  let  us  say,  to  the  Greeco- 
Buddhist  school  of  Gandhdra,  and  promptly,  even  without  our  volition,  some 
analogy  or  connection  transports  us  to  the  Central  Asia,  China  or  Japan  of 
many  centuries  later,  even  if  we  have  not  to  continue  our  flight  to  Java  in  the 
ninth  century  or  Cambodia  in  the  twelfth.  The  reader  will  find  in  these  pages 
abundant  examples  of  such  transitions.  The  first  essays  reach  back  by  a  highly 
ingenious  and  probable  hypothesis  to  the  very  origins  of  Buddhist  art  in  India 
itself,  and  give  us  the  measure  of  its  possibilities  by  what  it  has  achieved  at 
Sdnchl  and  Barhut.  Already  we  detect  some  traces  of  foreign  influence,  from 
the  Persia  of  the  Achxmenids.  Soon  an  abrupt  irruption  of  Hellenistic  art 


friU  PREFACE  * 

overwhelms  the  native  schools,  and  creates  a  repertory  of  religious  composi- 
tions, which  the  Buddhist  propaganda  carries  to  Central  Asia,  the  Far  East, 
and  the  Malay  islands.  Thus  is  established  a  genetic  connection  between  the 
religious  art  of  Europe  and  Asia,  a  double  efflorescence  from  one  root,  most 
strikingly  exemplified  in  the  case  of  the  Buddha  type,  which  closely  resembles 
the  earliest  sculptural  type  of  Christ,  and  most  curiously  in  that  of  the  'Tute- 
lary Pair',  found  throughout  the  whole  Buddhist  sphere  and  at  the  same  time 
in  ancient  Gaul  :  or  shall  we  claim  the  highest  degree  of  interest  for  the  case 
of  the  'Madonna'  group  (Essay  IX),  which  —  ultimately  derived,  in  all 
probability,  from  ancient  Egypt  —  has  ended  by  conquering  the  whole  world  1 
This  splendid  generalization  cannot  fail  to  be  fruitful,  both  on  the  European 
and  on  the  Asiatic  side,  in  inspiration  for  future  researches  :  in  the  mean- 
while it  may  be  welcomed  as  reestablishing  by  the  aid  of  art  that  feeling  of 
solidarity  and  sympathy  between  India  and  Europe,  which  flourished  during 
the  palmy  days  of  Vedic  studies,  but  latterly  has  been  somewhat  discouraged 
by  specialism. 

Need  we  remark  that,  where  religious  art  and  archxology  are  the  theme, 
literature  and  literary  history  cannot  be  far  away  1 M.  Voucher  has  commented 
upon  the  predominantly  narrative  character  of  the  bas-reliefs  with  which  he  is 
dealing  :  it  may  indeed  be  said  that,  apart  from  purely  decorative  figures  and 
symbols,  the  great  bulk  of  them  are  illustrations  of  scenes  from  the  life  of  the 
Buddha.  The  life  must,  indeed,  he  conceived  in  an  ample  sense,  according  to 
that  grandiose  Indian  conception  whereby,  as  M.  Foucher  opportunely  reminds 
us,  the  biography  is  not  confined  to  a  single  span,  hut  covers  the  whole  series  of 
countless  births,  under  all  forms  of  existence,  which  were  necessary  for  the 
accumulation  of  the  positive  and  negative  characteristics  manifested  finally  in 
the  Great  Being,  the  Perfectly  Illuminated.  The  scenes  therefore  need  to  be 
read,  and  at  first  the  very  alphabet  was  wanting.  The  problem  was  of  far 
greater  obscurity  than  in  the  case  of  what  M.  Foucher  terms  the  magnificent 
illustrated  bible  constituted  by  the  sculptors  of  the  cathedral  of  Chartres.  The 
texts  of  the  Buddhist  religion  have  only  gradually  been  made  known  :  those 
events  in  the  life  which  wen  specially  marked  out  for  illustration  —  the 
twelve  acts  of  Buddha  and  so  forth  —  had  not  been  separated  out ;  the  Jataka 
book,  recording  the  tales  of  previous  births,  was  not  at  first  available.  The 
names  of  those  scholars  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  the  first  tentatives  at 
decipherment,  such  as  the  inspired,  if  not  impeccable,  archseologist.  General  Sir 
Alexander  Cunningham,  Prof.  Grtinwedel  of  the  Berlin  Ethnographical 
Museum,  Dr.  Serge  d' Oldenburg,  Perpetual  Secretary  of  the  Imperial 


PREFACE  IX 

Academy  of  St.  Petersburg,  and  others  will  be  found  recurring  in  M.  Fou- 
cher's  pages.  But  undoubtedly  the  matter  has  in  M.  Foucher's  own  work  made 
a  long  step  forward  :  the  reader  will  remark  not  only  the  artistic  insight 
which  gives  so  much  ease  and  certainty  to  the  identifications  in  this  volume,  but 
also  the  emergence  of  principles  fitted  to  serve  as  a  guide  for  future  discovery 
and  criticism  in  this  field  of  study.  In  a  word,  we  see  taking  shape,  not  only 
an  art,  but  also  a  science  of  discovery  and  interpretation  in  regard  to 
Buddhist,  and  by  consequence  to  Indian,  illustration. 

xA  history  of  Buddhist  Art  is  a  task  for  the  future  ;  may  we  some  day 
have  the  pleasure  of  welcoming  a  systematic  treatise  upon  the  subject  from 
M.  Foucher's  own  pen.  For  the  present  we  are  only  at  the  commencement. 
Nothing  guarantees  us  that  in  its  beginnings  the  Art  shall  be  found  on  a  level 
with  the  doctrine,  or  that  it  shall  follow  a  parallel  course,  or  again  that 
it  shall  develops  with  a  proportional  rapidity.  Gn  the  contrary,  we  see  already 
that  at  Sdnchi  and  Barhut,  after  centuries  of  active  speculation,  it 
makes  its  appeal  primarily  to  a  community  characterii^ed  by  naive  and  simple 
piety.  In  the  case  of  Christianity  how  many  centuries  of  dogmatic  strife 
precede  the  age  of  the  primitives  I  Nevertheless  the  reader  who  turns  from  the 
essays  on  Barhut  and  Sdnchi  to  those  dealing  with  the  Great  Miracle  and 
with  Boro-Budur  —  much  clearer  would  be  his  impression,  if  he  embraced  in 
his  view  the  mediaeval  and  modern  art  of  China,  fapan,  and  Tibet  —  cannot 
fail  to  note  the  metaphysical  contemplation  which  has  grown  upon  the  decay 
of  the  older  popular  piety.  Yet  even  here  we  have  a  warning  as  to  the  partial 
reversions  which  may  result  from  the  transplanting  of  religion  to  a  less  sophis- 
ticated society  :  since  in  the  sculptures  of  Boro-Budur  we  find  again  —  in 
an  atmosphere,  it  is  true,  of  hypertropical  softness  —  no  small  admixture  of 
that  frank  pleasure  in  mere  story-telling  which  is  the  special  charm  of 
Sdnchi  and  Barhut. 

London.  June,  1914. 

F.  W.  Thomas. 


We  are  indebted  for  the  use  of  photographs  to  the  Secretary  of  State  for 
India.  Dr.  J.  Bdrgess,  and  Prof.  A.  A.  Macdonell  (England) ;  to  Prof.  Ed. 
Chavannes,  Mr.  Henry  H.  Getty  and  M.  V  Golodbew  (France) ;  to  Prof. 
A.  Grunwedel  and  Dr.  A.  von  Le  Coa  (Germany) ;  to  Mr.  J  H.  (now 
Sir  John)  Marshall,  Sir  Aurel  Stein  and  Mr.  (now  Prof.)  J.  Ph.  Vogel 
(India)  ;  to  Major  Van  Erp  (Java)  :  —  and  for  the  loan  of  blocks  to  the 
Acaddmie  des  Inscriptions  et  Belles-Lettres,  the  Soci6t6  Asiatique  and 
MM.  Esperandieu,  Guimet,  Hachette  et  C'%  E.  Lerodx  (Paris),  and  to 
the  Ecole  frangaise  d'Extrfime-Orient  (Hanoi). 

In  the  body  of  the  work  and  in  the  descriptions  attached  to  the  plates 
will  be  found  indications  in  detail  of  what  we  owe  to  this  kind  cooperation. 
We  tender  here  our  grateful  thanks  for  help  in  the  absence  of  which  the 
majority  of  these  essays  either  would  never  have  come  into  being  or  could 
not  have  been  combined  to  form  of  a  volume. 

Some  faults  of  impression  and  minor  errata  will  perhaps  be  judged  excu- 
sable in  an  English  book  printed  in  France. 

P.  .S".  —  It  should  moreover  be  stated  —  in  view  of  some  few  details 
which  the  reader  himself  may  notice  —  that  this  volume,  with  exception 
of  the  index  and  tables,  has  been  in  print  since  June  1914.  Through  the 
enforced  postponement  of  its  appearance,  the  dedication  to  M.  A.  Barth 
has  become  (since  April  15,  1916)  unfortunately  only  a  tribute  to  his 
memory. 


CONTENTS 


Pagts 

I.  —  The  BEcrNNiNGS  of  Buddhist  Art i 

II.  —  The  Representations  of  «  Jatakas  »  on  the  Bas- 

Reliefs  of  Barhut 29 

ni.  —  The  Eastern  Gate  of  the  Sanchi  Stup A  ....  61 

IV.  —  The  Greek  Origin  of  the  Image  of  Buddha  .     .     .  1 1 1 , 

V.  —  The  Tutelary  Pair  in  Gaul  and  in  India    .     .     .  139 

VI.  —  The  Great  Miracle  at  ^ravasti 147 

VII.  —  The  Six-Tusked  Elephant 185 

VIII.  —  Buddhist  Art  IN  Java 205 

IX.  —  The  Buddhist  Madonna 271 

Index 293 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Hiriti,  the  Buddhist  Madonna  :  painting  fromTurfan...  frontispiece 

Page 

Plates  I-IV.  —  Beginnings  of  Buddhist  Art 28 

1.  Buddhist  symbols  on  ancient  Indian  coins. 
II.      The  three  last  Great  Miracles  : 

1°  at  SdncU ;  2°  at  Amardvati. 

III.  The  first  Great  Miracle  : 

1°  in  Gandhdra ;  z°  at  Amardvati. 

IV.  The  four  Great  Miracles  : 

1°  in  Gandhdra ;  2°  at  Amardvati ;  3"  at  Benares. 

Plates  V-VI.  —  Jatakas  at  Barhut  ....  ...        60 

v.      In  medallions. 

VI.      On  the  rail-coping. 

Plates  VII-X.  —  The  Eastern  Gate  of  the  SAnchi  Stupa.         i  10 
VII,  I.  General  view  taken  from  the  East. 

2.  Back- view  of  Lintels  of  Eastern  Gate. 
VIII,  I.  Eastern  Gate  (front  view). 

2.  Divine  guardian  at  entrance. 

Interior  face  of  left  jamb. 
IX.  I.  The  Conversion  of  the  Ka^yapas. 

Interior  face  of  left  jamb. 
2.  The  Return  to  Kapilavastu. 

Interior  face  of  right  jamb. 
X,  I.  The  Vocation,  or  Great  Departure. 

Front  view  of  middle  lintel. 
2.  A  Procession  to  the  Bodhi-Trce. 

Front  view  of  lower  lintel. 


XIV  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Pago 

Plates  XI-XVI.  —  Greek  Origin  of  the  Buddha  Type    .     .       138 

XI,  I.  Buddhas  in  the  Lahore  Museum. 

2.  Buddha  in  the  Guides'  Mess,  Mardin. 

XII,  I.  The  Village  of  Shihbaz-Garhi. 
2.  The  Ruins  of  Takht-i-Bahai. 

XIII,  I.  The  Village  of  Sahri-Bahlol. 

2.  Excavations  near  Sahri-Bahlol. 

XIV,  I.  Shah-ji-ki-Dheri  (Kanishka  Stupa). 
2.  Indo-Greek  and  Indo-Scythic  Coins. 

XV,  I.  The  Relic- casket  of  Kanishka. 
2.  The  Bodhisattva  Type. 

XVI,  1.  Types  of  Bodhisattva,  Buddha  and  monk. 

2.  Graeco-Christian  Christ  and  Graeco-Buddhist  Buddha. 

Plates  XVII-XVIIL  —  The  Tutelary  Pair 146 

XVII.  In  Gaul. 
XVIII.      In  Gandhara. 

Plates  XIX-XXVIII.  —  The  Great  Miracle  of  Cravasti     .       184 

XIX.        At  Benares. 
XX.        At  Ajanta. 
XXI,  I .  At  Ajanta  :  after  a  wall-painting. 

2.  In  China  :  in  the  Ta-t'ong-fu  Caves, 

XXII.  On  the  Boro-Budur,  Java. 

XXIII.  I.  InMagadha. 

2.  In  the  Konkan. 

XXIV.  In  Gandhira. 

XXV.  In  Gandhara. 
XXVI.  In  Gandhara. 

XXVII.        In  Gandhara. 
XXVIII,  I.  InGandhsLra. 
2.  At  Barhut. 

Plates  XXIX-XXX.  —  The  Six-tusked  Elephant  .  .     .       204 

XXIX,  I.  At  Barhut. 

2.  AtAmaravati. 
XXX,  I.  In  Gandhara. 
2.  At  Ajanta. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Plates  XXXI-XLIV. 
XXXI,  I.  Boro- 

2. 

XXXII. 

XXXIII,  I. 

2. 

XXXIV,  I. 


XV 

Page 

270 


XXXV,  I. 


2. 


XXXVI,  I. 


XXXVII,  I. 


2. 


XXXVIII,  I. 


2. 


XXXIX. 
XL,  I. 


—  Buddhist  archjEOlogy  in  Java   .     . 

Budur  :  General  view  (^from  the  north-west). 

—  First  Gallery  (part  of  west  fafude) . 

—  Section  and  plan. 

—  Silhouette. 

—  Staircase  (north  side). 

—  Story   of  Sudhana,    no.    3    :    Incantation 

against  theNaga  (central  portion) . 

—  Story  of  Sudhana,  no.  1 1 :  Manohara's  flight. 
Above  :  The  Bodhisattva's  farewell  to  the 

gods. 

—  Story  of  Sudhana,no.  i2:ThePrince'sreturn. 
Alove  :   The  Bodhisattva's   descent    upon 

earth. 

—  Story  of  Sudhana,  no.  16  :  At  the  fountain 

(right-hand  portion). 

—  Story  of  M4ndhltar,  no.  12  :  The  rain  of 

garments. 
Ahove  :  The  Bodhisattva  chooses  his  bride. 

—  Story  of  king  Qihi,  the  Dove  and  the  Hawk. 
Above  :  The  first  of  the  Bodhisattva's  four 

promenades. 

—  Story  of  Rudrayana,  no.  6  :  Presentation  ot 

the  cuirass  (left-hand  portion) . 

—  Story  of  Rudrayana,  no.   9  :   Mahikatyi- 

yana's  visit. 
Above  :  The    Bodhisattva  with   his  first 
Brahman  teacher. 

—  Story  of  Rudrayana,    no.   10   :  The   nun 

^aili's  sermon  (left-hand portion). 

—  Story  of  Rudriyana,  no.  11 :  Queen  CanJra- 

prabhi's  ordination  (central  portion). 

—  Story  of  Rudrayana,  fragments  of  nos.  12, 

13  and  14. 

—  Story  of  Rudriyana,  no.    16   :  After  the 

parricide. 
Above  :  The  ascetic  Bodhisattva  declines  the 
aid  of  the  gods. 

—  Story  of  Rudriyana,  no.  19  :  The  rain  of 

jewels  (left-hand  portion). 


XVI 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

XLI,  I.  Boro-Budur  :  Story  of  the  pair  of  Kinnaras  {central  por- 
tion of  the  second  scene"). 
2.  —  Story  of  Maitrakanyaka,  no.  I  :  The  purse- 

offering  (central  portion'). 
XLII,  I.  —  Story  ofMaitrakanyaka,  no.  2:  The  mother's 

supplication  (left-hand  portion). 
2.  —  Story  of  Maitrakanyaka,  no.  7  :  In  the 

Inferno  city  (right-hand  portion) . 
XLIII,  I.  The  unfinished  statue  of  Buddha. 

Under  the  central  cupola,  Boro-Budur. 
2    Trailokya-vijaya. 

Bronze  in  the  Batavia  Museum. 
XLIV.        The  Goddess  Cunda  between  two  Bodhisattvas. 
On  the  south  western  wall  of  the  Chandi  Mendut, 

Plates  XLV-L.  —  The  Buddhist  Madonna 292 

XLV.        After  a  wall-painting  from  Domoko  (Chinese  Turkestan). 
I .  Side  view  before  removal  ;2.As  set  up  in  British  Museum. 
XLVI.        Suckling  Madonna  :  i.  Romanesque;  2.  Coptic. 
XLVII.        Indo- Greek  images  of  Hiriti. 
XLVin,  I.  Hiriti  and  her  partner  in  Gandhira. 
2.  Hiriti  in  Java. 
XLIX.        Japanese  images  of  Ki-si-mo-jin. 
L,        Chinese  images  of  Kuan-Yin. 


N.  B.  —  A  detailed  description  of  each  plate  will  he  found  either  in  the  body  of  the 
work  or  on  the  page  de  garde  opposite  the  plate. 


The  Beginnings  of  Buddhist  Art.C) 


Buddhism  is  a  historical  fact;  only  it  has  not  yet  been 
completely  incorporated  into  history :  sooner  or  later  that 
will  be  achieved.  Meanwhile  its  initial  period  remains,  we 
must  confess,  passably  obscure.  To  add  to  our  difficulty,  the 
little  that  we  think  we  know  of  the  social  and  political 
state  of  India  in  the  times  of  its  birth  has  been  learned 
almost  entirely  through  its  medium  :  thus  the  frame  is 
no  better  defined  than  the  picture.  But  the  task,  arduous 
though  it  may  be,  is  not  impossible.  The  fifth  century  B.  C. 
is  not  so  remote  a  period  that  it  must  always  elude  archaeo- 
logical research ;  the  interval  between  the  death  of  Buddha 
and  the  first  information  transmitted  to  us  concerning 
him  is  not  so  considerable  that  we  cannot  flatter  oursel- 
ves with  the  idea  of  discerning  across  it  the  veritable  phy- 
sionomy  of  the  work,  if  not  —  in  conformity  with  the 
pious,  but  too  tardy  wish  of  later  generations  —  the 
«  actual  features  »  of  the  worker.  This  hope  is  still  more 
confident,  and  the  ambition  less  audacious,  when  it  is  a 
question  of  the  beginnings  of  Buddhist  art.  The  appearance 
of  the  latter  is  a  relatively  late  phenomenon,  since  it  pre- 
supposes not  only  the  development  of  the  community  of 
monks,  but  also  a  certain  organization  of  worship  on  the 
part  of  the  laity.  If  among  the  productions  of  this  art 
the  sculptures  are  almost  the  sole  survivors,  we  have  at 
least  preserved  to  us,  notably  in  the  labelled  bas-reliefs 


(^i)  Journal  Asiatique,  Jan. -Feb.  1911. 


2  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

of  Barhut,  documents  of  the  very  highest  rank.  Cert- 
ainly the  stones  are  by  no  means  loquacious  :  but  they 
atone  for  their  silence  by  the  unalterableness  of  a  testimony 
which  could  not  be  suspected  of  rifacimento  or  interpo- 
lation. Thanks  to  their  marvellous  grain,  they  are  to-day  as 
they  were  when  they  left  the  hands  of  the  image-makers 
Qi'upakdrakd)  two  thousand  years  ago;  and  upon  this  immu- 
table foundation  we  can  construct  inferences  more  rigo- 
rous than  upon  the  moving  sand  of  the  texts.  In  the  ever 
restless  and  changing  play  of  the  doctrines  we  are  never 
quite  certain  that  the  logical  sequence  of  the  ideas  is  exact- 
ly parallel  to  the  historical  succession  of  the  facts.  On  the 
other  side,  the  routine  character  of  all  manual  technique 
will  allow  us  to  detect  with  certainty,  in  the  still  existing 
monuments,  the  material  traces  of  the  procedures  which 
must  have  been  usual  earlier :  inversely,  and  by  a  kind  of 
proof  backwards,  the  correctness  of  these  postulates  will 
be  verified  in  that  they  alone  will  be  found  to  render  a 
satisfactory  account  of  the  often  uncouth  character  of  that 
which  has  been  preserved  to  us.  All  these  reasons  seem 
to  us  to  justify  the  task  which  we  have  undertaken.  In  the 
assault  delivered  from  various  quarters  upon  the  origins 
of  Buddhism  we  beUeve  even  that  the  attempt  to  go 
back  to  the  very  beginning  of  its  art  is,  among  all  the 
methods  of  approach,  that  which  has  for  the  moment  the 
most  chances  of  success. 


None,  indeed,  of  the  monuments  known  at  the  present 
time,  building  or  sculpture,  takes  us  further  back  than  the 
Maurya  dynasty.  Does  that  mean  that  art  was  created  entire 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  3 

in  India  towards  the  year  250  before  our  era,  by  a  decree  of 
the  Emperor  A^oka?  Of  course  it  would  be  absurd  to 
believe  this.  From  the  Vedic  times  Indian  civilization  had 
at  its  disposal  the  services  not  only  of  the  carpenter,  the 
wheel-wright  and  the  blacksmith,  of  the  potter,  the  wea- 
ver and  other  fabricators  of  objects  of  prime  necessity,  but 
also  of  those  whom  we  call  art- workers,  painters,  gold- 
smiths, carvers  in  wood  or  ivory.  If  the  texts  were  not  there 
to  tell  us  this  in  words,  the  evidence  of  the  sole  surviving 
monuments  would  be  sufficient  to  establish  it.  Fergus- 
son  has  proved  once  for  all  that  the  oldest  constructions  in 
stone,  by  the  servile  manner  in  which  they  copy  the  fra- 
ming and  joining  of  timber  work,  testify  to  the  previous 
existence  of  wooden  buildings.  On  the  other  hand  —  as 
we  know  from  a  rehable  source  by  means  of  an  explicit 
inscription  —  it  was  the  ivory-workers  of  Vidi^a  who  car- 
ved, in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  their  town,  one  of  the 
monumental  gates  of  Sanchi.  Besides,  it  is  obvious  that  the 
finished  and  well  polished  bas-reUefs,  which  for  us  are  the 
first  in  date,  represent  not  by  any  means  the  first  attempts 
of  beginners,  but  the  work  of  sculptors  long  familiar  with 
their  business  and  changing  their  material,  but  not  their 
technique.  The  whole  transformation  which  was  accom- 
plished during  the  third  century  before  our  era  is  limited  to 
the  substitution,  in  religious  and  royal  foundations,  of  the 
reign  of  stone  for  that  of  wood.  Unfortunately,  there  are 
no  worse  conditions,  climatic  and  historical,  for  the  preser- 
vation of  monuments  than  those  of  India.  All  that  was  of 
wood  was  condemned  beforehand  to  fall  into  dust;  all,  or 
nearly  all,  that  was  of  stone  and  that  the  climate  might 
have  spared  has  been  destroyed  by  the  vandalism  of  man. 
Thus  is  explained  why  the  most  ancient  remains  of  Bud- 
dhist art  are  at  once  so  late  and  so  rare.  If  we  leave  aside 


4  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

the  great  monolithic  pillars  dear  to  Agoka,  as  well  as  the 
caves  excavated  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  religious  sects 
in  every  place  where  the  geological  formation  of  the  rocks 
lent  itself  thereto,  we  find  on  the  ground  level,  and  pend- 
ing more  systematic  excavations,  scarcely  anything  to 
mention,  except  the  debris  of  the  balustrades,  of  Bodh- 
Gaya  and  of  Barhut,  and  the  four  gates  of  Sanchi.  The 
mention  of  the  kings  Brahmamitra  and  Indramitra, 
inscribed  on  the  first,  on  the  second  that  of  the 
dynasty  of  the  ^ungas,  and  on  one  of  the  last  that  of  the 
reign  of  Satakani  suffice  to  date  them  generally,  but  with 
certainty,  as  belonging  to  the  second,  or  first,  century 
before  our  era.  It  is  doubtless  to  the  same  epoch,  if  we  may 
judge  by  the  style,  that  we  must  refer  the  oldest  fragments 
of  the  balustrades  exhumed  both  at  Amaravati  and  at 
Mathura.  If  to  these  few  stray  remnants  of  sculptures  we 
add  the  remains  of  the  most  archaic  paintings  of  Ajanta,  we 
shall  very  soon  have  finished  compiling  the  catalogue  of 
what  may  be  styled  —  in  opposition  to  the  later  school,  of 
the  north-west  frontier,  much  more  penetrated  by  foreign 
influences  —  the  native  school  of  Central  India. 

Let  us  go  straight  to  the  most  striking  feature  of  this  old 
Buddhist  school.  Although  well  known  to  speciahsts,  it 
will  not  fail  to  surprise  uninformed  readers.  When  we 
find  the  ancient  stone-carvers  of  India  in  full  activity,  we 
observe  that  they  are  very  industriously  engaged  in  carrying 
out  the  strange  undertaking  of  representing  the  life  of  Bud- 
dha without  Buddha.  We  have  here  a  fact  which,  improba- 
ble as  it  may  seem,  Cunningham  long  ago  demonstrated.  It 
is  established  on  the  written  testimony  of  the  artists  them- 
selves. Those  of  Barhut  inform  us  by  an  inscription,  that 
such  and  such  a  person  on  his  knees  before  a  throne  «  is 
rendering  homage  to  the  Blessed  One  ».  Now,  without 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  5 

exception,  the  throne  is  vacant;  at  the  most,  there  is  a 
symbol  indicating  the  invisible  presence  of  Buddha  0).  The 
latest  researches  have  only  opened  our  eyes  to  the  extent 
of  the  field  of  application  of  this  constant  rule;  it  holds 
good  for  the  years  which  preceded  as  also  for  those 
which  followed  the  SambodU,  for  the  youth  as  also  for 
the  old  age  of  the  Master.  The  facade  of  the  middle  lintel 
of  the  eastern  gate  of  Sanchi  illustrates  his  departure  on 
horseback  from  his  house  :  the  embroidered  rug  which 
serves  as  a  saddle  for  his  steed  is  empty  Q.  A  medallion 
of  Bodh-Gaya  represents  his  first  meditation  :  empty  again 
is  the  seat  before  which  the  traditional  ploughman  is  dri- 
ving his  plough  Q.  Some  panels  of  Amaravati  show 
us  his  birth  and  presentation  to  the  sage  Asita;  only  his 
footprints  —  a  direct  ideographic  transcription  of  the  for- 
mula which  was  in  use  in  India  to  designate  respectfully  a 
«  person  »  —  mark  the  swaddling  clothes  on  which  in  one 
place  the  gods,  in  another  the  old  rishi  are  reputed  to  have 
received  him  into  their  arms  (*).  These  selected  examples 
suffice  to  demonstrate  that  the  ancient  Indian  sculptors 
abstained  absolutely  from  representing  either  Bodhi- 
sattva  or  Buddha  in  the  course  of  his  last  earthy  exis- 
tence (^).  Such  is  the  abnormal,  but  indisputable  fact  of 
which  every  history  of  Buddhist  art  will  have  at  the  outset 
to  render  account. 


(i)  A.  Cunningham,  Stupa  of  Barhut,  pi.  XIII-XVII. 

(2)  See  below,  pp.  75  and  105;  cf.  pi.  X,  i. 

(3)  ^rt  greco-bouddhique  du  Gandhdra,  fig,  177  and  p.  345. 

(4)  See  on  the  staircase  of  the  British  Museum,  n"'  44  and  48,  or  Fer- 
GDSSON,  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  pi.  XCI,  4,  and  LXI,  2. 

(5)  Let  us  add,  in  order  to  be  quite  correct,  «  at  least  under  his  human 
form  » ;  for  we  know  that  a  bas-relief  at  Barhut  represents  the  Blessed  One 
descending  into  the  bosom  of  his  mother  in  the  form  of  an  elephant  (cf. 
below,  p.  20). 


6  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

As  far  as  we  know,  no  perfectly  satisfactory  explanation 
of  this  fact  has  until  now  been  given.  First  of  all  we  tried 
to  dispose  of  the  matter  more  or  less  by  the  supposition,  as 
evasive  as  gratuitous,  that  the  ancient  school  had  either  not 
desired  or  had  not  been  able  to  figure  the  Blessed  One ; 
neither  of  these  two  reasons  appears  to  us  to  have  the  least 
value  in  proof.  Shall  we  speak  of  incapacity  ?  Assuredly,  one 
can  see  that  the  concrete  realization  of  the  image  of  the 
«  perfect  Buddha  »  was  not  an  easy  task  :  and  the  difficulty 
could  not  but  increase  with  the  years,  in  proportion  as  the 
time  of  the  Master  grew  more  distant  and  his  features  faded 
more  and  more  into  the  mists  of  the  past.  Nevertheless,  we 
must  not  form  too  poor  an  opinion  of  the  talent  of  the  old 
image-makers,  and  the  argument  becomes  moreover  quite 
worthless,  when  one  attempts  to  apply  it  to  the  youth  of 
Buddha.  What  was  he,  in  fact,  up  to  the  time  of  his  flight 
from  his  native  town,  but  a  «  royal  heir  apparent  » ?  Now 
the  type  of  rdja-kumdra,  or  crown-prince,  is  common  on 
the  gates  of  Sanchi,  as  also  on  the  balustrade  of  Barhut  Q; 
what  material  hindrance  was  there  to  their  making  use  of  it 
to  represent  the  Bodhisattva  ?  It  is  clear  that  they  could 
have  done  so,  and  yet  they  carefully  abstained  from  doing  so. 
Shall  we  fall  back,  then,  upon  the  other  branch  of  the 
dilemma  and  say  that  they  did  not  dare  ?  Assuredly  the 
gravest  members  of  the  order  must  long  have  held  to  the 
letter  the  stern  saying  that  «  the  master  gone,  the  law 
remains  Q  » ;  and  we  are  quite  willing  to  beheve  that  the 
law  alone  was  of  import  for  them.  The  reverend  Naga- 
sena  still  teaches   king   Menander   that   henceforth    the 


(i)  See  Cunningham,  Stupa  of  Barhut,  pi.  XXV,  4  {Mugapakkha-jdtaka 
n"  538  :  cf,  infra,  p.  56  and  pi.  V,  6)  and  p.  vi  (mention  of  the  Vifvaniara- 
jataka)  ;  north  gate  of  Sanchi,  lower  lintel  (Vi^vantara),  etc. 

(2)  Mahdparinibbdna-sutta,  VI,  i. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  7 

Blessed  One  is  no  longer  visible  except  in  the  form  of  the 
dharmakdyaQ),  of  the  «  body  of  the  doctrine  »  ;  but  of  any 
express  prohibition  of  images  we  have  in  the  texts  no 
knowledge.  Since  when,  moreover,  and  in  what  country 
does  popular  devotion  trouble  itself  about  the  dogmatic 
scruples  of  the  doctors  ?  Certainly  it  was  not  so  in  ancient 
India :  for  otherwise  we  could  not  at  all  understand  the 
enthusiasm  with  which  the  valley  of  the  Ganges  and  the 
rest  of  the  peninsula  welcomed  the  Indo-Greek  type  of 
Buddha.  From  Mathura  to  Bodh-Gaya,  and  from  Cravasti 
to  Amaravati,  we  see  it  installed  in  triumph  on  the  circum- 
ference of  the  stupas  as  in  the  interior  of  the  temples.  So 
rapid  a  conquest  is  a  sufficient  proof  that  the  objections  of 
conscience,  if  any  such  existed,  were  far  from  being  insur- 
mountible. 

But,  it  will  be  said,  if  it  is  true  that  the  ancient  Indian 
image-nakers  asked  for  nothing  better  than  to  represent 
the  Blessed  One,  and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  they  were 
capable  ^f  it,  why  then  have  they  so  carefully  abstained  ? 
To  this  we  see  but  one  reply,  in  appearance,  we  must  confess, 
simple-m'nded  enough,  but  one  which,  in  India,  is 
still  sufficient  for  all :  «  If  they  did  not  do  it,  it  was  because 
it  was  not  the  custom  to  do  it  ».  And,  no  doubt,  it  would 
be  easy  to  letort :  oc  But  you  confine  yourself  to  putting  off 
the  question ;  if  it  does  not  arise  with  regard  to  the  sculptors 
whose  worcs  we  possess,  it  still  holds  good  entirely 
with  regard  to  their  predecessors...  »  —  Certainly,  and  far 
from  contradcting,  that  is  just  the  point  at  which  we 
wished  to  arrive.  We  hold  that  this  monstrous  abstention, 
such  as  we  observe  on  the  monuments  of  Barhut  and 
Sanchi,  remaiis    perfectly  incomprehensible,  unless  we 


(i)  Milindapanha,id.  Trenckner,  p.  73;  trans.  Rhys  Davids,  p.  113. 


8  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

enquire  into  the  traditional  habits  which  it  supposes  and 
which,  for  that  very  reason,  it  is  capable  of  revealing  to 
us.  Like  certain  anomaUes  in  animal  species,  it  can  only 
be  explained  as  an  inheritance  from  a  nearly  obso- 
lete past,  which  this  survival  helps  us  to  reconstitute.  In 
other  words,  it  is  vain  for  us  to  seek  a  solution  of  the 
problem  in  the  few  relatively  late  specimens  at  present 
known  to  us ;  it  is  to  the  anterior  history,  to  what  is 
still  the  prehistoric  period  of  Buddhist  art  that  we  rnust 
go  to  discover  it.  To  such  a  typical  case  of  artistic  Tera- 
tology it  is  the  evolutionist  method  of  embryology  that 
it  is  proper  to  apply. 


II 

To  begin,  we  have  the  best  reasons  for  thinking 
that  the  habit  of  adoring  human  images,  and  even^he  art 
offabricating  them,  were  stillless  general  in  thelndaofthe 
Brahmans  before  Alexander  than  in  the  Gaul  of  th-  Druids 
before  the  time  of  Caesar.  Certainly  this  absence  of  idola- 
try properly  so-called  did  not  in  any  way  excludf,  the  exis- 
tence of  more  rudimentary  forms  of  fetichism  ( }  :  never- 
theless, the  fact  remains  that  Buddhism  did  noldevelope, 
like  Christianity,  in  a  world  long  infected  by  1,'ie  worship 
of  images  and  prompt  to  contaminate  it  in  it,^  turn.  Not 


(i)  We  allude  to  the  golden  purusha  -which  formed  a  pjt  of  the  altar  of 
sacrifice  (Qat.-Brahm.,  7,  4,  i.,  15)  and  to  the  effigy  krtya  of  the  magic 
rites  (Ath.  Veda,  X,  i),  etc.  —  For  what  is  to  be  underst/od  by  the  Gallic 
simulacra  of  Cassar  (Bdl.  Gall.,  VI,  4),  see  the  article/)!  M.  S.  Reinach 
on  L'art  plastique  en  Gaule  et  le  druidisme  (Revue  Celtiqje,  t.  XIII,  1892, 
pp.  190  sqq..),  where  are  cited  also  corresponding  testimonies  of  Hero- 
dotus (I,  131)  and  Tacitus  (Germ.,  IX)  as  to  the  non-ffiistence  of  idolatry 
among  the  Persians  and  the  Germans. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  9 

only  did  the  first  century  already  know  symbolical  or  alle- 
gorical representations  of  Christ ;  but  from  the  second  cen- 
tury we  meet  with  his  portrait  on  the  paintings  of  the 
catacombs  (*).  When  that  of  Buddha  makes  its  appearance 
in  India,  the  religion  which  he  had  founded  was  already  four 
hundred  years  old  :  even  so  it  had  required  the  contact  of 
the  civiHsation,  and  the  influence  of  the  art,  of  Hellenism. 
On  the  other  hand,  Buddhism  was  not  born,  like  Islam, 
in  an  environment  beforehand  and  deliberately  hostile  to 
idolatry.  We  do  not  find  that  the  Vedic  texts  breathe  a 
word  about  it,  either  for  or  against  :  and  their  silence  is 
explained  precisely  by  the  fact  that  the  idea  of  it  had  not 
even  presented  itself  to  the  Indian  mind.  As  soon  as  the 
time  for  it  shall  have  come,  the  grammarians  will  not  fail 
to  mention  in  the  employment  of  the  learned  language  the 
mode  of  designating  the  new  fact  of  the  Brahmanic  idols  Q. 
Likewise,  when  the  question  of  the  images  of  the  Master 
presents  itself  to  the  faithful  Buddhists,  their  writings  will 
supply  explicitly  the  opportune  solutions;  and  if  these  suc- 
cessive solutions  are,  moreover,  contradictory,  it  is  simply 
that  in  the  interval  the  needs  ofthe  religious  conscience  have 
changed  at  the  same  time  as  the  conditions  of  artistic  pro- 
duction. But,  as  far  as  concerns  the  most  ancient  period 
with  which  we  have  to  deal,  investigations  into  the  litera- 
ture have  remained  from  an  iconographical  point  of  view 
as  sterile  as  the  researches  on  the  spot.  For  the  moment  the 
history  of  rehgious  art  in  India,  previous  to  Buddhism,  is, 


(i)  M.  Besnier,  Les  Catacomies  de  Some,  Paris,  1909,  pp.  204,  208,  223- 
224. 

(2)  Cf.  Scholia  to  Pdnini,  V,  3,  99,  excellently  discussed  by  Prof.  Sten 
KoNOw  in  his  interesting  Note  en  the  use  of  images  in  ancient  India  (Ind. 
Ant.,  1909)  :  but  they  have  no  value  as  proof  for  the  pre-Mauryan  epoch 
with  -which  we  are  here  concerned. 


10  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

whether  it  must  remain  so  or  not,  philologically  a  blank 
page,  archseologically  an  empty  show-case. 

That  in  Buddhism,  as  in  all  religions,  art  is  at  first 
only  a  simple  manifestation  of  worship,  every  one  will  will- 
ingly admit.  The  only  question  is  to  know  what  branch 
of  Buddhist  worship  has  supplied  this  special  excrescence 
with  an  opportunity  for  its  production.  It  is  evidently  not 
in  the  periodical  reunions  of  the  monks  that  we  shall  find 
the  smallest  decorative  pretext.  The  veneration  shown  to 
the  mortal  remains  of  the  Blessed  One  explains  the  leading 
role  of  the  funeral  tumulus  in  Buddhist  architecture.  It  will 
not  escape  us  that  it  is  still  the  same  veneration  which,  thus 
advantaged,  has  offered  in  the  obligatory  surroundings 
of  those  rehquary  monuments  the  natural  support  to  the 
sculptures,  the  sole  destination  of  which  for  a  long  time  was 
to  decorate  the  balustrades  of  the  stupas.  We  might  even 
suspect  a  mark  of  its  influence  in  the  almost  entirely  bio- 
graphical character  that  this  decoration  has  assumed,  just 
as,  by  the  rite  of  circumambulation,  it  has  fixed  the  direc- 
tion in  which  the  scenes  must  succeed  one  another  and  be 
read.  But,  beyond  this  general  orientation,  we  discover  at 
the  basis  of  this  kind  of  devotion  nothing  that  could  have 
determined  the  mode  of  compositon  of  the  bas-reliefs. 
There  remains  the  third  and  last  ancient  form  of  Buddhist 
worship,  that  which  Buddha  himself  is  supposed  to  have 
taught  on  his  death  bed  to  his  well-loved  disciple,  «  There 
are  four  places,  O  Ananda,  which  an  honorable  worshipper 
should  visitwith  religious  emotion.  What  are  these  four? »... 
They  are,  as  we  know,  those  where  the  Predestined  One 
for  the  first  time  received  illumination  and  preached  and 
those  where  for  the  last  time  he  was  born  and  diedQ.  Now 


(i)  Mahdparinibbdna-suta,  V,  16-22. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  n 

just  in  this  devout  practice  of  the  four  great  pilgrimages 
resides  any  hope  which  we  have  of  at  last  coming  upon  the 
long-sought  point  of  departure.  In  order  that  we  may  grasp 
atoncetlie  germ  and  the  directing  principle  of  Buddhist  art, 
it  is  necessary  and  sufficient  to  admit  that  the  Indian  pil- 
grims were  pleased  to  bring  back  from  these  four  holy 
places  a  small  material  souvenir  of  what  they  had  there 
seen. 

We  can  scarcely  believe  that  the  reader  will  refuse  to 
grant  us  this  small  postulate.  Can  he  be  so  ignorant  of 
the  outer  world  that  he  does  not  know  the  universal  em- 
pire of  the  mania,  innocent  in  itself,  for  souvenirs  of  tra- 
vels? The  innumerable  manufacturers  and  shopkeepers 
who  everywhere  live  by  it  would  quickly  demonstrate  it 
to  him.  Has  he  never  in  the  course  of  his  migrations, 
whatever  may  have  been  the  object  or  the  cause  of  them, 
bought  curios,  collected  photographs,  or  sent  away  pic- 
ture post-cards?  These  are  only  the  latest  modes  and  a 
profane  extension  of  an  immemorial  and  sacred  custom. 
If  he  doubts  this,  let  him  lean,  for  example,  over  one  of 
the  cases  at  the  Cluny  Museum  (')  which  contain  the 
emblematic  metal  insignia  of  all  the  great  pilgrimages 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  as  they  have  been  fished  out  of  the 
Seine  in  Paris.  Mediaeval  India  has  also  left  by  hun- 
dreds evidences  of  this  custom.  Most  frequently  they 
are  simple  clay  balls,  moulded  or  stamped  with  a  seal,  and 
without  doubt  within  the  reach  of  all  pockets,  which 
served  at  the  same  time  as  memento  and  as  ex-voto.  They 
are  to  be  picked  up  nowadays  on  all  Buddhist  sites,  even 


(i)  Unless  it  is  more  convenient  for  him  to  try  the  same  experiment  at 
the  British  Museum,  where  a  case  in  the  Medieval  Room  also  contains  a 
collection  of  these  signacula. 


12  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

in  the  peninsula  of  Malacca  and  in  Annam  Q.  Do  we 
compromise  ourselves  very  much  by  conjecturing  that 
these  sacred  emblems  are  in  Buddhism  the  remains  of  a 
tradition  which  goes  back  to  the  four  great  primitive  pil- 
grimages ?  The  worst  that  could  result  from  it  would  be 
that  Buddhist  art  must  have  owed  its  origin  to  the  satis- 
faction of  a  need  everywhere  and  always  experienced,  and, 
we  may  almost  say,  of  one  of  the  religious  instincts  of 
humanity.  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  theory  more 
humble  and  more  prosaic  :  it  is  in  our  opinion  only  the 
more  probable  for  that,  nor  do  we  see  what  other  we 
can  substitute,  if,  at  least,  we  are  unwilling  to  attribute  to 
that  art  any  but  a  rational  origin. 

In  fact,  this  point  once  gained,  all  the  rest  follows. 
Nothing  is  more  easy  than  to  guess  what  must  have  been 
the  souvenirs  brought  back  by  the  pilgrims  from  the  four 
great  holy  places.  To  take  the  modern  example  mostfstmi- 
har  to  the  French  reader,  what  is  represented  by  the  images 
or  medals  offered  for  sale  and  bought  at  Lourdes?  First  and 
foremost,,  the  miraculous  grotto.  What  must  have  been 
represented  on  stuffs,  on  clay,  wood,  ivory,  or  metal  by 
the  first  objects  of  piety  manufactured  at  Kapilavastu,  at 
Bodh-Gaya,  at  Benares,  or  at  Kuginagara?  Evidently  the 
characteristic  point  towards  which,  at  the  approach  of  each 
of  these  four  towns,  popular  devotion  was  directed.  Now  we 
know  these  points  already  from  the  picturesque  expres- 
sions of  the  texts.  What  was  first  visited  at  Kucinagara 
was  the  site,  very  soon  and  quite  appropriately  marked  by 


(i)  For  specimens  from  India,  see  Cunningham,  Mahdbodhi,  pi.  XXIV; 
J.  R.  A.  S,,  1900,  p.  432,  etc.  ;  from  Burmah,  ArdiBol.  Survey  of  India, 
Annual  Teport,  1905-1906,  pi.  LIII;  from  Malacca,  Bull,  de  la  Commission 
Archiologique  de  I'lndo-Chine,  1909,  p.  232;  from  Annam,  B.  E.  F.  E.-O., 
1901,  p.  25,  etc. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  13 

a  stupa  ('),  of  the  last  death  of  the  Master.  In  the  same  way, 
the  essential  miracle  of  Benares  having  taken  place  at  the 
«  Mriga-dava  »,  the  Gazelle-park,  it  was  inevitable  that  its 
consecrated  description  as  «  putting  the  wheel  of  the  law 
in  motion  »  should  be  translated  in  concrete  terms  by  a 
wheel,  usually  accompanied  by  two  gazelles.  What  was 
contemplated  at  Bodh-Gaya,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the 
evergreen  fig-tree,  at  the  foot  of  which  the  Blessed  One 
had  sat  to  attain  omniscience.  Finally,  what  would  be 
worshipped  at  Kapilavastu  ?  Here  the  answer  is  less  cer- 
tain ;  undoubtedly  the  great  local  attraction  consisted  in 
the  recollection  of  the  nativity  of  Buddha ;  but,  without 
mentioning  his  paternal  home,  the  most  ardent  zeal  might 
hesitate  between  the  place  of  his  material  birth  and  that 
of  his  spiritual  renaissance,  between  the  parkof  Lumbini, 
where  he  issued  from  the  right  side  of  his  mother,  and  the 
no  less  famous  gate,  through  which  he  escaped  from  the 
miserable  pleasures  of  the  world.  Whatever  might  in  this 
case  be  the  difficulty  of  choice,  with  regard  to  the  three 
other  sites  at  least  no  hesitation  was  possible.  A  tree,  a 
wheel,  a.  stupa,  these  suffice  to  recall  to  our  memory  the 
spectacle  of  those  holy  places,  or  even,  by  a  constant  asso- 
ciation of  ideas  and  images,  to  evoke  the  miracles  of  which 
they  had  been  the  theatre.  Again,  these  things  could  be 
indicated  as  summarily  as  one  could  wish  :  if  human 
weakness  cannot  dispense  with  the  material  sign,  imagi- 
nation makes  up  for  the  poverty  of  artistic  means. 


(i)  «  A  Stupa  of  A^oka  »,  says  Hiuan-tsang;  that  is,  of  archaic  form  ;  cf. 
alsoFa-hian  (Beal,  Records,  I,  p.  ui,  and  II,  p.  32). 


14  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 


III 

Such  is  the  sole  part  which  hypothesis  plays  in  our  theory. 
The  whole  subsequent  development  of  Buddhist  art  flows 
logically  from  these  premises ;  and  henceforth  there  are  none 
of  the  still  surviving  documents  which  do  not  successively 
corroborate  the  various  stages  of  its  evolution.  The  oldest 
monuments  which  have  come  down  to  us  from  Indian 
antiquity  are  a  few  rectangular  coins  of  copper  or  silver.  Now 
it  is  very  remarkable  that,  among  the  symbols  with  which 
they  are  punch-marked,  the  tree,  the  wheel  and  the  stupa 
play  a  considerable,  and  indeed,  on  many  of  them,  a  predo- 
minant part  Q.  Thanks  to  the  chance  of  their  discovery, 
the  existence  of  the  signacula,  which  we  imagined  to  have 
been  made  for  the  use  of  pilgrims,  ceases  to  be,  for  as  far  back 
as  we  can  go,  a  pure  conjecture  (see  pi.  1,  B,  C,  D).  Better 
still,  we  can  clearly  discern  in  the  infantile  simphcity  of 
these  emblems  the  style  of  the  most  ancient  manifesta- 
tions of  the  rehgious  art  of  the  Buddhists.  They  are,  properly 
speaking,  less  images  than  hieroglyphics  endowed  for  the 
initiated  with  a  conventional  value  :  and,  at  the  same  time, 
we  succeed  in  explaining  to  ourselves  what  we  have  already 
more  than  once  had  occasion  to  note,  that  is,  the  abstract 
and  quasi  algebraical  character  of  this  art  at  its  commence- 
ment Q.  Moreover,  we  easily  conceive  that,  in  conse- 
quence of  being  conveyed  beyond  the  great  centres  of  pil- 


(i)  To  quote  only  the  latest  study,  cf .  D.  B,  Spooner,  A  new  find  of  punch- 
marked  coins,  in  Arch.  Survey  of  India,  Annual  Report  1^0 ^-1^06,  1909,  p.  150. 
According  to  the  excellent  analysis  which  Dr.  Spooner  has  given  of  this  dis- 
covery, out  of  61  coins  22  bear  all  three  synabols  at  once  and  22  others  as- 
sociate the  two  last  together. 

(2)  Cf.  for  instance,  Art greco-houddhique  du  Gandhara,  p.  608. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  15 

grimage,  artistic  emblems  of  this  sort  may  have  seen 
their  initial  signification  modified.  They  came,  by  degrees, 
to  be  regarded  less  as  mementos  of  sacred  spots  than  as 
figurative  representations  of  miracles,  the  memory  of  v^hich 
was  connected  with  those  places.  In  other  words,  in  pro- 
portion as  they  were  propagated  further  and  further  from 
their  place  of  origin,  their  topographical  and  local  character 
diminished  more  and  more,  to  the  advantage  of  their  sym- 
bolical and  universal  value,  until  they  ended  by  becoming 
the  common  patrimony  of  the  image-makers  and  being 
fabricated  everywherewithout  distinction  where  a  Buddhist 
donor  ordered  them.  It  is  just  this  state  of  diffusion  and 
subsequent  generalisation  that  is  proved  to  us  even  in  the 
IV"*  century  by  the  banality  and  dispersion  of  the  so-cal- 
led «  Buddhist »  coins. 

But  we  must  hasten,  in  this  rapid  sketch,  to  come  to  the 
monuments  whose  Buddhist  character  can  no  longer  be 
disputed.  We  know  what  impulse  was  towards  the  middle 
of  the  third  century  given  by  the  imperial  zeal  of  Acoka 
to  the  religious  foundations  of  the  sect.  It  is,  therefore,  only 
the  more  curious  to  observe  how,  even  a  hundred  years  after 
him,  the  school  of  Central  India  continues  to  follow  faith- 
fully in  the  beaten  track  of  the  past.  From  this  point  of  view, 
the  four  gates  of  Sanchi, which  we  have  had  the  good  fortune 
to  retain  almost  intact,  may  furnish  a  fairly  safe  criterion  of 
the  degree  of  persistence  of  the  ancient  usages.  Now  Fer- 
gusson  long  ago  remarked  there  the  extreme  frequency  of 
what  he  called  «  the  worship  »  of  the  tree,  the  stupa  and 
the  wheel.  According  to  statistics  hardly  open  to  suspicion, 
since  they  were  drawn  up  in  support  of  theories  quite  diffe- 
rent from  ours,  the  first  emblem  is  repeated  no  less  than 
67  times,  the  second  32  times  ;  and  if  the  last  does  not 
reappear  more  that  6  times,  this  number  suffices,  never- 


i6  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

theless,  to  assure  it  the  third  place  in  the  order  of  impor- 
tance of  the  subjects  (').  We  have  not,  of  course,  to  follow 
Fergusson  in  the  strange  anthropological  speculations 
which  he  has  engrafted  on  to  these  observations.  All  that 
we  should  be  tempted  at  first  to  read  in  his  table  would 
be  the  preponderance  of  the  miracle  of  the  Sambodhi,  or  of 
the  Parinirvdna,  over  that  of  the  Dharmacakra-pravartana. 
In  reality  the  larger  number  of  the  first  two  symbols  de- 
pends upon  another  cause.  The  artists  proceeded  to  apply 
to  the  Buddhas  of  the  past  the  formulas  which  had 
at  first  served  for  the  Buddha  of  our  age.  People 
were  pleased  to  level  all  the  seven  by  representing  them 
at  one  time  by  their  funeral  tumulus,  at  another,  and 
much  more  frequently,  by  their  empty  throne  under 
their  Tree  of  Knowledge  Q  :  the  wheel  alone  had  re- 
mained the  special  apanage  of  our  ^akya-muni,  and  con- 
sequently was  repeated  only  at  rarer  intervals.  But  these 
are  only  subsidiary  details ;  taking  these  figures  all  together, 
their  imposing  total  testifies  loudly  enough  to  the  cons- 
tant repetition  in  traditional  form  of  what  we  know,  from 
the  evidence  of  the  coins,  to  have  been  the  first  attempts 
at  Buddhist  art.  Being  forced  to  cover  the  relatively 
extensive  surfaces  placed  at  their  disposal,  the  sculptors  of 


(i)  Cf.  Fergusson,  Tree  and  Serpent-Worship,  a""*  edition,  1873,  pp.  105 
and  242.  Here  is  the  table,  in  which  he  has  included  the  data  of  the  sole 
gate  of  one  of  the  small  neighbouring  siupas  : 

Tree, 

Great  Siiipa.       South  Gate  i6 

North  Gate  19 

East  Gate  17 

West  Gate  15 

Small  Stupa.      Only  Gate  9 

(2)  See  helovt,  Eastern  Gate  of  Sdnchi,  pp.  72  and  104.  The  decisive  reason 
for  the  predominance  of  the  inspired  compositions  of  the  type  of  the  Sam- 
bodhi over  all  the  others  will  be  given  a  little  further  on,  p.  19. 


Stupa, 

Wheel 

5 
8 

I 
2 

9 

10 

6 

I 
2 
4 

THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  17 

Sanchi  evidently  commenced  by  re-editing  profusely,  right 
in  the  middle  of  the  second  century  before  our  era,  the 
summary  and  hieroglyphic  compositions  which  they  had 
inherited  from  their  direct  predecessors,  the  makers  of 
religious  objects  in  the  fifth  century  (see  pi.  II). 

IV 

This  is  a  first  and  certainly  very  important,  but  purely 
material,  verification  of  our  hypothesis.  There  are  proofs 
more  subtle  than  the  proof  of  statistics,  which  open  up 
deeper  views  of  the  development  of  the  ancient  Buddhist 
school.  The  years  have  passed,  technical  skill  has  increased, 
the  iconographic  types  of  gods  and  genii  have  been  formed, 
the  gift  of  observation  and  a  sense  of  the  picturesque  have 
awakened  in  it  :but  it  remains  nevertheless,  as  regards  the 
capital  point  of  the  figuration  of  Buddha,  the  docile  cap- 
tive of  custom.  Around  the  old  themes  of  the  studios,  it 
embroiders,  it  is  true,  some  variations  :  it  embellishes 
the  stupas,  surrounds  the  wheels  with  wreaths,  or,  care- 
less of  the  anachronism,  gives  beforehand  to  the  tree 
of  the  Sambodhi  the  curious  stone  surround  which,  more 
than  two  and  a  half  centuries  after  the  miracle,  it  owed  to 
the  piety  of  A?oka  (*) ;  but  for  all  that  it  does  not  go  beyond 
the  ancient  formulas.  Weary  of  eternally  repeating  the 
sacred  miracles,  does  it  risk  treating  some  still  un- 
published episode?  The  idea  of  taking  advantage  of  this,  in 
order  to  break  free  from  routine,  never  occurs  to  it.  It  can- 
not but  know  that  its  business  is  no  longer  to  supply  pil- 
grims with  a  memento  of  what  they  had  seen  with  their 
own  eyes  in  the  course  of  their  visits  to  the  sacred  places ; 


(i)See  below.  Eastern  Gate  of  Sdnchl,  p.  102. 


i8  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

it  is  fully  conscious  that  what  it  has  now  to  do  is  to  illus- 
trate on  a  permanent  monument  the  biography  of  Buddha; 
but  it  appears  hardly  to  grasp  clearly  the  fact  that  for  this 
new  purpose  the  old  procedures,  formerly  perfectly  appro- 
priate to  their  object,  are  no  longer  suitable.  Evidently,  it 
was  too  late  to  rebel  and  to  shake  off  the  yoke  of  an  artistic 
tradition  which  had  ere  long  been  strengthened  by  religious 
legends  ;  at  least  it  is  about  this  same  time  that  the  texts, 
until  then  silent  on  the  question,  suddenly  decide  to  pro- 
claim —  with  an  excessive  precipitation  to  be  contradicted 
soon  after  by  posterity  —  the  previous  incapacity  of  the 
artists  to  portray  during  his  hfetime  the  ineffable  linea- 
ments of  the  Blessed  One  (').  And  how  otherwise,  in 
fact,  explain  the  persistent  absence  of  his  image,  whilst  so 
many  of  the  popular  divinities  were  paraded  on  the  pillars 
of  Barhut  and  Sanchi  ? 

Henceforward  there  is  only  one  way,  in  conformity  with 
the  hving  reality,  of  conceiving  the  study  of  the  ancient 
Indian  school.  Its  history  is  that  of  a  struggle,  more  or  less 
surreptitious,  between  the  two  tendencies  which  divided  it 
against  itself,  an  irrepressible  desire  for  new  scenes  and 
a  superstitious  respect  for  its  precedents.  On  the  one 
hand,  it  experiences  a  growing  need  for  the  form  of  Buddha 
to  serve  as  a  centre  or  pivot  for  the  scenes  of  his  life  ;  and 
on  the  other  hand,  it  accepts  as  an  axiom  that,  in  order  to 
represent  the  Blessed  One,  it  suffices  to  do  what  until  then 
had  always  been  done,  that  is,  to  evoke  him  by  the  sight  of 
one  of  his  three  speaking  emblems.  Watch  it  at  work.  The 
tumulus  of  the  Parinirvdna,  the  ultimate  end  of  the  career 
of  the  Master,  was  ipso  facto  beside  the  point,  when  it  was  a 
question  of  representing  some  incident  in  that  career.  The 


(i)  Divydvaddna,  p.  547, 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  19 

symbol  of  the  wheel,  specialized  in  the  representation  of  the 
«  First  Preaching  »,  could  scarcely  be  employed  again, 
except  on  the  occasion  of  the  similar  miracle  wrought  at 
^ravasti  for  the  greater  confusion  of  the  rival  sects  ('). 
There  remained  for  ordinary  employment  in  miracles  of 
the  second  rank  the  heraldic  emblem  already  utihzed  for  the 
Sambodhi.  And,  in  fact,  we  can  well  see  how  the  studios  of 
Central  India  resign  themselves  once  for  all  to  this  proce- 
dure and  accommodate  themselves  more  or  less  success- 
fully thereto.  All  the  same,  they  cannot  resist  slipping  in 
here  and  there  a  few  variants,  or  even  trying  on  occasions 
some  different  course.  It  is  under  an  empty  throne,  sur- 
mounted by  a  tree,  that  at  Barhut  Buddha  receives  the 
visit  of  the  ndga  Elapatra;  when  he  preaches  in  the  heaven 
of  the  Thirty-three  Gods,  the  motif  is  in  addition  graced 
with  a  parasol;  and  this  latter,  in  its  turn,  takes  the  place 
of  the  tree  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  Indra  or  Ajata- 
^atru.  At  times  the  throne  by  itself  does  the  work.  In  two 
cases,  on  the  eastern  gate  of  Sanchi,  the  school  even  ventures 
so  far  as  to  avail  itself  solely  of  the  «  promenade  », 
or  cankrama,  of  the  Master  in  order  to  suggest  his  pre- 
sence Q).  But  the  boldness  of  its  innovations  goes  no 
further,  and  we  very  quickly  reach  the  limits  of  its  auda- 
city. We  have  indeed  sketched  them  above  (pp.  4-5),  and 
it  would  have  been  superfluous  to  return  to  the  matter, 
did  we  not  now  believe  that  we  have  divined  the  raison  d'etre, 
and  actually  the  manner  of  production,  of  the  strange  ano- 
malies which  at  the  beginning  of  this  study  we  had  to 
confine  ourselves  to  stating. 

We  have,  likewise,  explained  above  how  —  and  now  we 


(i)  See  below,  Essay  VI. 

(2)  Cf.  Cunningham,  Stupa  of  Barhut,  pi.  XIV,  3;   XVI,  3;  XVII,   i; 
XXVIII,  4  etc.,  and  below,  Eastern  Gate  of  Sanchi,  pp.  93  and  100. 


20  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

understand  why  —  the  artists  came  into  collision  with 
the  impassable  barrier  of  ancient  usages,  when  they  had  to 
represent  the  form  of  the  Predestined  One  in  the  course 
of  the  first  twenty-nine  years  of  his  life,  at  the  time  when 
his   princely   surroundings   still  hid  under   a   mundane 
cloak  the  Buddha  about  to  appear.  In  truth,  we  were  not 
able   as  yet  (p.  13)  to  determine  exactly,  by  the  aid  of 
the  texts,  which  episode  of  his  youth  the  faithful  had  cho- 
sen  as  the   principal  object  of  commemoration,   nor  in 
what  manner  the  old  image-makers  must  have  set  to  work 
to  commemorate  it.  It  is  curious  to  note  that  the  sculptors 
of  the  second  century   shared  our  perplexities   in   this 
regard.  Those  of  Barhut  adopted  the  precise  moment  when 
the  Bodhisattva  descended  into  the  bosom  of  his  mother, 
when,  at  least,  the  latter  dreamed  that  he  descended  there 
in  the  form  of  a  little  elephant   (').    Those  of  Sanchi 
do  not  represent  the  Conception,  save  incidentally;  on 
the  other  hand,  they  complacently  detail  all  the  circum- 
stances of  the  prince's  entry  into  religion,  that  is,  of  his 
flight  on  horseback  from  his  native  town  :  they  portray 
the  gate  of  the  town  and  several  times  the  horse,  the 
groom  and  the  Gods  :  they  leave  to  be  understood  only  the 
hero  of  this  Hegira  (').  As  to  those  of  Amaravati,  on  the 
stelas  where  they  have   set  one  above  another   the  four 
grand   miracles,  they  employ  indifferently,  in    order   to 
fill  the  panel  reserved    for  Kapilavastu,  —  side  by   side 
with  the  tree  of  Bodh-Gaya,  the  wheel  of  Benares   and 
the  stupa  of  Ku^inagara  (see  pi.  II,  2)  —  now  the  same 
cc  great  abandonment  of  home  »,  where  we  see  nothing 
but  the  horse  passing  under  the  gateway,  now  a  «  nati- 


(i)  Cunningham,  Stiipa  of  Barhut,  pi.  XXVIII,  2. 

(2)  See  hdow  Eastern  Gate  of  Sanchi,  pi.  75  and  p.  105  (cf.  pi.  X,  i). 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  21 

vity  »,  where  we  see  only  the  mother,  to  the  exclusion 
of  the  new-born  child  (').  Which  of  these  three  compo- 
sitions (see  pi.  Ill)  is  the  most  archaic  and  best  preserves 
for  us  the  aspect  of  the  «  souvenirs  »  which  the  pilgrims 
of  the  fifth  century  were  already  able  to  purchase  at  Kapi- 
lavastu?  This  is  a  question  which  we  at  present  find  very 
difficult  to  answer.  If,  again,  on  this  point  we  confide  our- 
selve  to  the  numismatic  documents,  they  will  persuade  us 
that  from  the  beginning  a  certain  wavering  manifested 
itself  in  the  choice  of  the  artists  and  the  faithful.  Most  ot 
the  Buddhist  coins  devote  two  abbreviations,  instead  of  one, 
to  the  Nativity  alone;  at  least,  of  the  five  usually  associated 
symbols,  the  lotus,  the  bull,  the  tree,  the  wheel  and  the 
tumulus,  the  two  first  must  correspond  simultaneously  to 
the  first  of  the  four  great  miracles.  Apparently,  the  lotus 
recalled  those  which  had  sprung  up  spontaneously  under 
the  seven  first  steps  of  the  Master,  whilst  the  bull, 
almost  always  flanked  by  his  zodiacal  emblem,  incarn- 
ated the  traditional  date  of  the  birth,  the  day  of  the  full 
moon  of  the  month  Vaigakha  (see  pi.  I,  A).  On  other 
occasions,  but  more  rarely,  the  bull  is  replaced  by  an  ele- 
phant, a  plastic  reminder  of  the  Conception  (^).  It  may  be 


(i)  Fergusson,  Tree  and  Serpent-Worship,  pi.  XCIII-XCVIII.  With  regard 
to  this  we  may  note  that  much  later  stelas  of  Benares  continue  to  groupe 
in  the  scheme  of  Kapilavastu  the  birth  (with  or  without  the  conception,  the 
seven  steps,  or  the  bath)  and  the  great  departure  (see  pi.  IV,  3  A  and  cf. 
Anc.  Mon.  Ind.,  pi.  67-68,  etc.). 

(2)  Cf.  the  tables  of  D.  B.  Spooner,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  156-157.  As  for  the 
above  mentioned  interpretations  of  the  lotus  and  the  bull,  we,  for  our 
part,  give  them  as  simple  conjectures.  In  any  case,  we  may  at  this  point 
observe  that  in  later  Buddhism  the  lotus  has  retained  the  symbolical  signifi- 
cation of  «  miraculous  birth  ».  and  that  the  bull  appears  again  with  its  astro- 
nomical value  on  one  of  the  best-known  bas-reliefs  of  the  Lahore  Museum 
(cf.  A.  GRiiNWEDEL,  BuddUsHsche  Kunst  in  Indien,  2<i  ed.,  p.  121,  or  Bud- 
dhist Art  in  India,  p.  129).  The  lamented  D'Th.  Bloch  in  one  of  his  last 


22  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

also,  although  we  possess  no  concrete  proof  of  this,  that 
the  gate  through  which  the  Bodhisattva  had  been  cast 
by  his  vocation  out  of  the  world  may,  at  an  early  date, 
have  found  copiers  and  amateurs.  But  these  are  merely 
accessory  questions  :  what  is  important  here  is  that  only 
the  traditional  avoidance  of  images,  inherited  from  the 
humble  pioneers  of  former  days,  can  give  us  the  key  to  the 
later  improbable  compositions,  child-births  without  chil- 
dren, rides  without  riders. 


V 

This  is  not  all.  The  sculptors  of  the  second  century  verify 
our  hypothesis  not  only  in  what  they  reproduce  and  in 
what  they  imitate  of  the  works  of  the  past  :  we  may  main- 
tain that  they  do  this,  also,  indirectly,  in  what  they  inno- 
vate. However  unreflecting  and  mechanical  their  submis- 
sion to  custom  may  have  been,  the  forced  absence  of  the 
protagonist  from  the  scenes  of  his  own  biography  could 
not  help  but  inconvenience  them  considerably.  Let  the 
career  of  the  Blessed  One  be  no  m,ore  than  a  monotonous 
tissue  of  conversations  more  full  of  edification  than  move- 
ment ;  yet  only  a  small  number  of  episodes  allowed  of 
being  portrayed  independently  of  the  principal  personage. 
With  the  aid  of  what  subjects  were  the  artists  to  cover  the 
numerous  medallions,  the  long  stretches,  or  the  high  gates 
of  the  stupa  balustrades?  The  first  expedient  of  which  they 


articles  (Z.  D.  M.  G.  1908,  vol.  LXII,  pp.  648  and  sqq.)  thought  he  reco- 
gnised in  a  defective  photograph  of  this  bull  Virith  the  hanging  tongue  the 
image  of  a  wild  boar,  and  he  built  up  a  whole  theory  on  this  mistake  :  it 
suffices  to  refer  the  reader  anxious  to  clear  up  this  matter  with  his  own  eyes 
to  Bdrgess,  Anc.  Mon.  Ind.,  p.  127. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  23 

bethought    themselves    was    to    turn   to  the   previous 
existences  of  the  Master,  at  the  time  when  under  all  animal 
torms,  and  later  under  all  social  conditions,  he  was  quali- 
fying by  means  of  perfections  for  the  final  attainment  of  the 
Bodhi.  Thereby  we  explain  why  the  sculptors  of  Barhut 
preferred  to  dip  into  this  treasure  of  tales  and  fables  ('). 
In  treating  this  new  matter  they  were  no  longer  trammel- 
led, as  when  illustrating  the  last  life  of  the  Master,  by  a 
custom  which  had  been  elevated  into  a  law.  Accordingly 
they  have  no  scruples  in  representing  the  Bodhisattva  in 
each  scene,  and  it  is  with  a  perfect  Hberty  of  mind  that, 
at  the  time  of  his  penultimate  terrestial  existence,  they  give 
to  Vicvantara  the  features  which  they  so  jealously  abstained 
from  lending  to  Siddhartha  (cf.  above,  p.  6).  Representa- 
tions oi  jdtakas  are  far  from  being  unknown  at  Sanchi  :  but 
the  decorators  of  the  gates  had  recourse  once  again  to  ano- 
ther stratagem  in  order  to  shp  between  the  links  of  tradi- 
tion. It  goes  without  saying  that  in  all  the  scenes  posterior 
to  the  Parinirvdna  the  absence  of  the  figure  of  the  Blessed 
One  became  perfectly  justified  and  at  the  same  time  ceased 
to  be  an  inconvenience  to  the  artist.  Thus,  they  soon  took 
pleasure  in  cultivating  this  part  of  the  Buddhist  legend. 
According  to  all  probability  they  began  by  illustrating  the 
famous  «  war  of  relics  »,  which  the  death  of  the  Blessed  One 
nearly  precipitated.  Encouraged,  apparently,  by  this  trial, 
they  did  not  fear  to  attack  even  the  cycle  of  Acoka  and  to 
represent  at  one  time  his  useless  pilgrimage  to  the  stupa  at 
Ramagrama,  and  at  another  his  solemn  visit  to  the  tree  of 
the  Sambodhi  Q.  Thus,  under  the   pressing  incentive  of 
necessity,  the  native  school,  incapable  of  openly  shaking 


(i)  See  below,  Representation  of  Jdtakas  on  the  Bas-reliefs  of  Barhut  (Essay  U). 
(2)  See  below,  Eastern  Gate  of  Sanchi,  pp.  78-79  and  108-109. 


24  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

off  its  slavery,  had  artificially  created  for  itself  a  double 
means  of  escape,  in  the  legends  previous  to  the  last  renais- 
sance or  posterior  to  the  final  death  of  Buddha.  For  our 
part,  we  do  not  doubt  that,  if  it  had  continued  to  develop 
normally  and  according  to  its  own  rules,  we  should  have 
seen  the  number  of  these  sham  historical  pictures  or  these 
illustrations  of  popular  stories  increase  at  the  expense  of 
the  old  fund  of  pious  images. 

It  is  no  longer  a  secret  to  anyone  that  the  regular  sweep 
of  this  evolution  was  brusquely  interrupted  by  a  veritable 
artistic  cataclysm.  The  Hellenized  sculptors  of  the  north- 
west, strangers  to  the  native  tradition  of  Central  India, 
satisfied  to  the  full,  and  even  outwent,  the  wishes  of  their 
Buddhist  patrons  by  creating  for  their  use  the  Indo-Greek 
type  of  Buddha.  Immediately  their  colleagues  of  the  low 
country,  seduced  by  this  wonderful  innovation,  greeted 
with  no  less  enthusiasm  than  the  laity  the  rupture  of 
the  magic  charm  which  had  weighed  so  heavily  and 
so  long  upon  the  ancient  Buddhist  school.  We  have 
already  remarked  upon  the  fact  of  the  rapid  diffusion  of  the 
new  type  (p.  7)  :  it  is  now  clear  to  us  that  its  adoption 
did  not  come  into  direct  collision  with  any  dogmatic  pre- 
judice. Always  docile  interpreters  of  current  ideas,  the  texts 
set  themselves  henceforth  to  guarantee,  by  the  aid  of 
apocryphical  traditions  or  an  abundance  of  miracles,  the 
authentic  ressemblance  of  those  portraits  whose  possi- 
bility they  were  a  moment  ago  denying  (*).  The  reason  is 


(i)  By  apocryphal  traditions  we  mean  those  relative  to  the  statue  of  san- 
dal wood,  carved  even  during  the  life-time  of  Buddha  and  attributed  by 
Fa-hian  (trans.  Legge,  p.  56)  to  Prasenajit  of  Qravasti,  and  by  Hiuan-tsano- 
(trans.  Stan.  Julien,  I,  pp.  283  and  296)  to  Uda5'ana  of  Kaucambi,  whose 
example  had  only  been  imitated  by  Prasenajit  (cf.  Beal,  Records,  I,  p.  xliv 
and  235  ;  II,  p.  4).  As  regards  the  miracles,  see  those  which  are  related  to  us 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  25 

that,  in  reality,  the  new  mode  (see  pi.  IV)  did  not  ex- 
pressly infringe  any  ritualistic  prohibition :  it  did  nothing  but 
overthrow  the  artistic  procedures  of  composition,  and  the 
bonds  which  fell  were  of  a  purely  technical  kind.  We  have 
seen  clearly  enough  how  the  image-makers  of  the  basin  of 
the  Ganges  had  slowly  suffered  the  spider's  web  of  custom 
to  weave  itself  around  them,  and  how,  not  daring  to  tear 
it  apart,  they  had  already  endeavoured  to  free  themselves 
from  it.  Under  the  stroke  of  the  revelation  which  came  to 
them  from  Gandhara  their  emancipation  was  as  sudden 
as  it  was  complete  :  but  even  through  this  unexpected 
development  we  are  prepared  to  follow  up  the  test  to  which 
we  have  submitted  our  theory  and  from  which  it  seems  to 
us  to  have  so  far  issued  with  honour. 

The  history  of  the  ancient  regime  in  Buddhist  art  prior 
to  the  Gandharian  revolution  may,  in  fact,  be  summed  up 
somewhat  as  follows.  We  have  every  reason  to  suppose 
that  there  was,  first,  from  the  fifth  century  onwards,  local 
production  at  the  four  great  centres  of  pilgrimage,  and  con- 
veyance into  the  interior  of  India,  of  rude  deUneations 
copying  the  «  sacred  vestiges  »  actually  still  visible  above 
ground  in  the  sites  of  the  miracles.  It  was  these  natu- 
rally unpeopled  tableaux  which,  thanks  to  time  and  dis- 
tance, ended  by  being  regarded  as  systematic  representa- 
tions of  the  four  principal  episodes  in  the  life  of  the 
Blessed  One,  and  which,  joined  to  some  routine  variations 
composed  in  accordance  with  the  same  formula,  served, 
before  as  well  as  after  A^oka  (middle  of  the  third  century  B. 
C),  for  the  decoration  of  religious  foundations  ;  finally,  on 
the  monuments  of  the  second  century  (still  before  our  era) 


concerning  the  image  of  the  temple  of  Mah^bodhi  by  Hiuan-tsang  (trans.  Stan. 
JDLIEN,  I,  p.  465 ;  Heal,  II,  p.  120)  and  Taranatha  (trans.  Schiefner,  p.  20). 


26  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

we  remark  already  tentatives  towards  freedom  from  the 
tyranny  of  the  ancient  customs  by  recourse  to  subjects 
previous  or  subsequent  to  the  last  existence  of  Buddha. 
However,  the  school  of  the  north-west  comes  on  the  scene. 
By  reason  of  the  very  fact  that  it  has  been  almost  entirely 
removed  from  these  traditional  influences,  it  must,  in  our 
system,  present  characteristic  signs  quite  different  from 
those  of  the  ancient  school.  Now,  the  conclusions  of  an 
extensive  study  which  we  have  long  dedicated  to  the 
Greco-buddhist  bas-reliefs,  seem  to  have  conspired  in 
favouring,  point  for  point,  the  reverse  of  the  preceding 
propositions.  What  we  have  observed  at  Gandhara  is,  first, 
the  almost  total  disappearance  of  legendary  scenes  later 
than  the  cycle  of  the  'Parinirvdm,  as  also  a  marked 
diminution  in  the  number  of  jdtakas;  in  the  second  place, 
there  is  an  indefinite  multiplication  of  episodes  borrowed 
from  the  youth  or  the  teaching  career  of  the  Master,  whose 
corporeal  image  occupies  now  the  centre  of  all  the  com- 
positions; finally  and  correspondingly,  there  is  an  extreme 
rarity  of  symbolical  representations  (').  In  any  case  —  and 
this  is  our  concluding  argument  —  the  old  emblems  do 
not  disappear  completely.  Not  only  at  Gandhara,  but  even 
on  the  latest  productions  of  mediaeval  India,  not  to  men- 
tion the  Lamaist  images  of  the  present  day,  these  survivals 
of  a  former  age  continue  to  manifest  themselves.  If  the 
stupa  is  regarded  as  having  on  nearly  all  the  new  represen- 
tations of  the  Parinirvdm  become  superfluous,  the  Tree  of 
Knowledge  never  fails  to  rear  itself  behind  the  Buddha  of 
the  Sambodhi,  whilst  the  wheel  between  the  two  gazelles, 
either  back  to  back  or  face  to  face,  continues  to  mark  the 
throne  of  his  First  Preaching  (see  pi.  VI,  2).  And  thus 


(i)  Cf.  Art  greco-iouddhique  du  Gandhara,  pp,  266,  270,427  etc. 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART  27 

the  decline  of  Buddhist  art  is  linked  to  its  most  distant 
visible  origins,  the  only  ones  (need  we  specify?),  which  have 
been  taken  into  consideration  here  ('). 

Such,  at  least,  is  the  theory  which  we  could  not  refrain 
from  submitting  to  the  appreciation  of  Indianists. 
Taken  altogether,  it  is  only  an  attempt  at  synthesis,  an 
effort  first  to  coordinate  logically,  then  to  organize  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  of  an  historical  development,  a 
series  of  facts  already  known.  In  this  sense  there  is  not 
one  Buddhist  archaeologist,  commencing  with  Fergus- 
son  and  Cunningham,  who  has  not  contributed  to  it, 
and  it  may  be  found  more  or  less  devoid  of  originality. 
Our  whole  ambition  would  be  precisely  that  it  should 
give,  when  read,  the  impression  of  being  already  public 
property.  That  would  be  the  best  of  symptoms ;  for  none 
is  better  adapted  to  produce  a  belief  that  —  except  for  the 
retouches  which  the  progress  of  research  will  inevitably 
give  to  it  —  it  is  destined  to  endure. 


(i)  Cf.  Art  greco-bouddhique,  figg.  208  and  209  and  Iconographie  bouddhique 
de  I'Inde,  figg.  29  et  30  :  the  latter  is  a  representation  of  the  Parinirvdna,  still 
surmounted  by  a  stupa. 


PLATE  I 

Cf.  pp.  14,  21. 


The  elements  ot  this  plate  have  been  obligingly .  sketched  by 
M.  Lemoine,  Professor  of  Drawing  at  the  Lyc^e  at  Quimper,  from 
the  following  publications  :  A.  Cunningham,  Coins  of  Ancient  India 
(London,  1891)  ;  Vincent  Smith,  Catalogue  of  the  Coins  in  the  Indian 
Museum,  Calcutta  (Oxford,  1906);  D.  B.  Spooner,  A  new  find  of  punch- 
marked  coins  (in  Arch.  Surv.  of  India,  Annual  Report,  ipoj  6,  pp.  150 
sqq.)  :  cited  respectively  as  C,  Sm.,  Sp.. 

A.  i(C.,pl.  XI,  2,  4);  2  (C,  pi.  I,  I,  5,  6);  3  (Sp-,pl.  LIVfl, 
3,  14);  4  (Sm.,  pi.  XIX,  13)  :  variants  of  the  lotus,  the  symbol  of  the 
miraculous  birth  of  the  Bodhisattva.  The  most  characteristic  form, 
with  eight  petals,  is  found  on  the  coins  of  Erin  (no.  i)  :  we  give  here 
in  addition  two  fantastic,  but  current,  forms  —  composed  of  three  para- 
sols and  of  three  ((taurines  ov  nandi-padas,{vamed{no .  2),or  not  (no.3). 
in  petals  —  and  one  quite  stereotyped  form  (no-  4). 

5  (C,  pi. I,  23  or  pi.  II,  8  etc.);  6(Sm.,  pi.  XX,  8);  7  (C,  pi.  11,  20)  ; 
8  (Sm.,  pi.  XIX,  15,  etc.)  :  variants  of  the  «  taurine  »  or  nandi-pada 
symbol,  denoting  the  zodiacal  sign  Taurus,  the  Bull  (Ski.  Tdvura), 
which,  during  the  month  of  Vaigikha  (April-May),  presided  over 
the  Nativity  of  the  Bodhisattva.  The  most  simple  form,  and  the  star- 
ting-point of  the  development,  is  composed  of  a  point  surmounted 
by  a  crescent  (no.  5).  In  the  most  elaborate  form  a  vardhamdna,  a 
trifdla,  or  even  a  triratna  have  in  turn  been  detected  :  we  do  not  per- 
ceive any  reason  why  in  becoming  more  complicated  it  should  have 
changed  its  name  and  signification. 

9(C.,pl.  Ill,  2);  10  (C,  pi.  I,  26):  II  (C,  pi.  Ill,  3);  12  (C, 
pi.  Ill,  2)  :  from  the  Buddhist  point  of  view  these  four  sacred  animals 
typify  respectively,  the  elephant  the  Conception,  the  bull  the  (date  of 
the)  Nativity,  the  horse  the  Great  Departure,  and  the  lion,  generally, 
the  «  lion  among  the  ^akyas  »  {^dkya-simha,  that  is  ^akya-muni). 

B.  I  (Cpl.I,  i);  2  (Sm.,  pi.  XIX,  11);  3  (C  ,  pi.  II,  7-8);  4(Sm. 
pi.  XX>  5)  :  variants  of  the  tree  of  the  Perfect  Illumination  (^Sambodhi). 
Nos.  I  and  2  present  fairly  well  the  form  of  the  leaf  of  the  afvaitha,  or 
ficus  religiosa  ;  the  foot  of  the  tree  is  always  surrounded  by  a  railing. 

C.  I  (Sm., pi.  XIX,  i,etc.);2  (C, pi, III,  13):  variants  of  the  Wheel 
of  the  Law  (Dharmacakra).  On  no.  2  it  is  surrounded  by  small  parasols. 

D.  I  (C,  pi.  I,  4,  5) ;  2  (Sp.,  pl-  LIV  b,  1,  13);  3  (C  ,  pi.  II,  15) ; 
4  (Sm.,  pi.  XX,  II,  12)  ;  variants  of  the  stupa,  or  tumulus,  of  the 
Parinirvdna.  Later  the  form  of  no.  i  was  mistaken  for  a  bow  with  its 
arrow ;  we  seem  to  recognize  in  origin  a  stdpa  crossed  by  the  staff 
{yashti)  of  its  parasol  (chattra)  :  we  need  only  compare  the  parasols 
which  enter  into  the  composition  of  the  lotuses  of  nos.  A.  2  and  3. 


BEGINNINGS    OF    BUDDHIST    ART 


PL.  I 


'< 


no 
□  □ 


10 


□  D 


Icirf  ^ 


11 


12 


BUDDHIST  SYMBOLS  ON  ANCIENT  INDIAN  COINS 


PLATE  II 

Cf.  pp.   17,  20,  73,   148. 


The  three  S^nchi  panels  belong  to  the  western  gate  of  the  great- 
stApa,  B  to  the  front  facade,  C  and  D  to  the  rear  :  the  photographs 
were  kindly  lent  to  us  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Marshall.  —  The  stele  of  Ama- 
rivati  is  reproduced  from  the  photograph  published  by  Fergusson, 
Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  2°''  ed.,  pi.  XCIV. 

B.  Miracle  of  the  Perfect  Illumination  {Samhodhi),  near  to  Gayi ; 
represented  by  a  tree  above  a  throne.  Note  the  characteristic  leaf  of  the 
tree  of  ^ikya-muni  (cf.  pi.  I,  B). 

C.  Miracle  of  the  First  Preaching,  or  Putting  in  motion  the  Wheel 
of  the  Law  (JDharma-cakra-pravartana),  near  to  Benares ;  represented 
by  a  wheel  above  a  throne. 

D.  Miracle  of  the  Final  Extinction  {Parinirvdna),  near  to  Ku^ina- 
gara;  represented  by  a  stilpa. 

Worshippers  —  on  the  earth  human  and  of  both  sexes,  in  the  air 
divine  —  press  round  each  of  these  symbolical  representations.  Those 
in  the  top  corners  of  B  i  and  D  i  have  a  human  bust  terminating  in 
the  stereotyped  body  of  a  bird.  We  are  not  long  in  remarking  the 
constant  contrast,  both  in  the  material  objects  and  in  the  persons,  be- 
tween the  still  heavy  and  clumsy  style  of  S4nchi  and  that  of  Amari  - 
vati,  almost  too  elegant  and  affected.  What  here  concerns  us  most  is 
that  the  fundamental  identity  of  the  subjects  is  not  in  the  slightest- 
degree  compromised  by  these  differences  of  treatment. 


BEGINNINGS    OF    BUDDHIST  ART 


PL.    II 


£i£imi£  tc  E5£5?E 


THE  THREE  LAST  GREAT  MIRACLES 


1"  AT  SANCHl 


2"  AT  AMAnAVATi 


PLATE  III 

Cf.    pp.    21,   148. 


r.  The  three  Gandh^ra  panels  are  reproduced  :  A',  from  a  photo- 
graph taken  by  the  author  in  the  Lahore  Museum;  A',  from  a  photograph 
in  the  Lahore  Museum,  copy  kindly  lent  by  Prof.  A.  A.  Macdonell; 
A',  from  a  photograph  by  Mr.  A.  E.  Caddy  in  the  Calcutta  Museum. 
—  2.  The  three  Amar^vati  panels  :  A',  from  a  photograph  taken  by 
the  author  in  the  Madras  Museum  (Cf.  Burgess,  Buddhist  Stapa  of 
^mardvali,  pi.  XXVIH,  i) ;  AS  from  Fergusson's  photograph,  Tree  and 
Serpent  Worship,  pi.  LXV,  3  ;  A',  from  the  same  source,  pi.  XCVL  3- 
The  locality  of  the  scene  is  in  all  cases  Kapilavastu.  We  shall  not 
here  insist  further  on  the  differences  of  type,  costume,  furniture  and 
ornamentation. 

A'.  The  Conception  {Garbha-avakrdnti)  :  the  Bodhisattva  descends 
into  the  right  side  of  his  mother's  bosom  in  the  form  of  a  Httle 
elephant.  The  school  of  Amaravati  always  places  at  the  four  cardinal 
points  of  the  room  the  four  Lokapdlas,  or  Guardians  of  the  World; 
but  sometimes,  as  here,  it  forgets  to  represent  the  elephant,  and.  as 
little  as  at  Barhut  (Cunningham,  pi.  XXVIII,  2)  and  at  Sinchi  (see  infra, 
pi.  IX,  2,  at  the  top),  does  it  think  of  making  Miy^  lie  in  such  a 
manner  that  she  can  properly  present  her  right  side  to  the  Blessed 
One.  The  school  of  Gandh^ra  is  never  guilty  of  these  negligences, 
which  are  contrary  to  the  letter  of  the  texts  (Art  g.-b.  du  Gandh  ,  I, 
figg.  J49  and  160  a  ;  cf.  however  ibid.,  fig.  148,  from  Amar^vati). 

A2.  The  Nativity  Qdti)  :  the  Bodhisattva  issues  from  the  right  flank 
of  his  mother,  who  is  standing  and  holding  a  branch  of  a  tree.  There- 
fore in  both  views  we  see  in  the  centre  of  the  composition  May^ 
standing,  with  one  arm  raised,  between  the  gods  on  the  right  and  her 
women  on  the  left.  But  it  will  be  noticed  tliat  on  this  occasion  also 
her  attitude  is  in  Gandh&ra  more  rational,  leaving  free  the  right  hip,  by 
which  the  child  is  supposed  to  issue.  As  regards  the  latter,  who  on  the 
panel  at  Lahore  is  perfectly  visible,  we  perceive  at  Amaravaii  only  the 
imprint  of  his  sacred  feet  on  the  cloth,  which  is  held  by  the  four  Lcka- 
pdlas  together,  and  no  longer  by  Indra  alone. 

A°.  The  Great  Departure  (^Mahdbhinishkramana')  :  the  Bodhisattva 
leaves  his  native  town  on  horseback.  At  Amarivati  we  perceive  only 
the  gate  of  the  town  (cf.  the  gates  at  S^nchi  on  our  pll.  VI- VII)  and 
the  riderless  horse,  preceded  by  a  god  and  followed  by  a  squire  holding 
the  parasol.  In  Gandhira  the  indication  of  the  gate  has  in  our  repro- 
duction (but  cf.  Art  g.-b.  du  Gandh.,  I,  fig.  187)  been  cut  away;  yet 
Chandaka  is  to  be  seen  holding  high  the  parasol,  while  Yakshas  raise 
the  horse's  feet  and  Mira,  armed  with  his  bow,  stands  at  its  head. 
Above  Chandaka,  again,  is  seen  a  half-length  figure  of  Vajrap^ni,  armed 
with  his  thunderbolt,  and  above  Mira,  between  two  divinities,  the 
personification  (recognizable  by  the  turreted  crown)  of  the  town  of 
Kapilavastu.  Finally  and  above  all,  the  Bodhisattva  is  this  time  shown 
on  the  back  of  his  horse. 


BEGINNINGS    OF    BUDDHIST    ABT 


PL^    III 


t**iV)!il 


THE      FIRST     GREAT     MIRACLE 

(CONCEPTION,    NATIVITY    OH    VOCATION) 
1"   IN    GANDHARA  2'   AT    AMARAVATI 


PLATE  IV 

Cf.  pp.  ^5-26,  r..{ 


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BEGINNINGS    OT    nUDDHTST    ART 


PL.   IV 


Q 


CQ 


W 
X 


The  Representations  of  "Jatakas" 
on  the  Bas-reliefs  of  BarhutQ. 


Ancient  India  has  bequeathed  to  us  a  considerable  mass 
of  texts  and  a  very  restricted  number  of  sculptures  :  this 
means  that  for  our  instruction  concerning  its  civilization 
we  possess  many  more  written  documents  than  carved 
monuments.  The  latter  deserve  all  the  more  to  attract  our 
attention.  Their  most  ancient  remains  may,  in  fact,  furnish 
us,  as  regards  the  external  appearance  and  the  material  side 
of  Indian  life  in  the  second  century  before  our  era,  with  a 
number  of  concrete  and  precise  details  which  we  should 
never  have  been  able  to  expect  from  the  most  extensive  or 
the  most  profound  study  of  the  literature.  I  hasten  to  add 
that  I  do  not  conceive  the  identification  of  these  works  of 
art  as  possible  without  their  confrontation  with  the  texts. 
These  latter  alone  can  help  us  to  understand  the  mute 
language  of  the  stones  and,  even  in  the  absence    of  any 
explanatory  inscription,  to  assign  names  to  the  characters, 
speech  to  the  gestures,  in  one  word  titles  to  the  subjects. 
In   practice  it  is   precisely    thus   that    matters  fall  out. 
We  find  ourselves  possessing  in  the  holy  scriptures  of  Bud- 
dhism a  ready  made  commentary  for  the  greater  part  of  the 
surviving  ancient  bas-reUefs  ;  and  these  pieces  of  sculpture, 
rare  or  scattered  though  they  be,  are,  for  their  part,  a  mine 
of  illustrations  quite  appropriate  to  as  many  episodes  of  the 
Buddhist  legend.  You  divine  without  difficulty  the  interest 


(i)  Lecture  at  the  Musee  Guimet,  in  Bibliotheque  de  vulgarisation  du  Musee 
Guimet,  vol.  XXX,  1908. 

3 


30  JATAKAS  AT  BARHOT 

of  this  intimate  accord  between  the  written  and  the  figured 
versions  of  the  same  stories  and  the  advantage  still  to  be 
obtained  from  it  for  the  comprehension  of  both.  This  is 
what  I  should  like  to  verify  experimentally  by  study- 
ing, in  accordance  with  the  texts  and  the  monuments, 
the  traditions  relating  to  some  of  the  previous  existences 
of  the  Buddha  (Jakya-Muni.  For  this  purpose  we  will 
make  use,  on  the  one  hand,  of  the  PaU  collection  of  the 
Jdtakas  (*)  and,  on  the  other,  of  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  stupa 
of  BarhutQ.  From  their  rapprochement  will  quite  natu- 
rally emerge  for  our  convenience  a  small  illustrated  collec- 
tion of  some  twenty-five  Indian  tales;  and  you  shall  judge 
if  I  exaggerate  their  charm. 

I 

The  Jdtakas.  —  I  owe  however  (by  way  of  preface) 
some  explanations  which  may  allow  you  better  to  under- 
stand the  meaning  and  more  to  enjoy  the  flavour  of  these 
tales  and  images,  as  amusing  as  naive.  But  these  necessary 
explanations  may  be  extremely  brief,  and  it  will  suf- 
fice if  I  rapidly  recall  to  your  mind  three  essential  notions. 

The  first  is  that,  according  to  Indian  ideas,  every  living 
being,  whoever  he  may  be,  is  not  only  sure  of  dying  :  it 
is  no  less  certain  that  he  must  be  born  again  in  one  of  the 
five    conditions   of  lost   soul,    ghost,   animal,    man  or 


(i)  Jdtaka,  dd.  Fausb0ll,  6  voll.  iti-S"  and  one  volume  of  index,  London, 
1877-1897  ;  translated  into  English  under  the  direction  of  Professor  E.  B.  Co- 
well,  6  voll.  in-8°,  Cambridge,  1895-1907. 

(2)  Cunningham,  The  Stupa  of  Barhut,  London,  1879  (published  by  order 
of  the  Secretary  of  State  for  India,  who  has  kindly  authorised  the  repro- 
ductions given  in  this  book).  —  Cf.  S.  d'Oldenborg,  Notes  on  Buddhist 
Art,  St.  Petersburg  1896  (in  Russian;  translated  into  English  in  the  Journal 
oj  the  American  Oriental  Society ,  XVIII,  I,  Jan.  1897,  PP-  183-201). 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  31 

god;  after  which  he  will  have  to  die  again,  in  order  to  be 
born  once  more,  and  so  on  for  ever,  unless  he  attains  sal- 
vation, which  is  nothing  else  than  the  final  escape  from 
this  frightful  circle  of  transmigration. 

The  second  point  is  that  not  only  the  attainment  of  this 
deliverance,  but  the  conditions  even  of  each  of  the  ephe- 
meral existences  are  regulated  automatically  by  a  moral 
law  as  general  and  as  unavoidable  as  the  physical  law  of 
gravity,  the  law  of  «  works  »,  or  (to  employ  a  Sanskrit 
word,  the  use  of  which  has  been  popularized  by  the  theoso- 
phists)  of  Karma.  At  the  death  of  each  being  there  is 
drawn  up  a  kind  of  debit  and  credit  account,  with  assets  and 
liabilities,  between  the  sums  of  the  merits  and  demerits 
accumulated  by  him  in  the  course  of  his  anterior  exist- 
ences :  and  an  immediate  sanction,  resulting  mechani- 
cally from  this  simple  mathematical  operation,  fatally 
decides  his  future  destiny. 

In  the  third  place,  it  is  a  belief  no  less  generally  admitted 
in  India  that  whoever  has  attained  to  sanctity  possesses, 
among  other  supernatural  faculties,  the  privilege  of  remem- 
bering his  past  existences  and  even  those  of  others.  This 
gift  of  extra-lucid  intuition,  or,  as  it  was  called,  of  «  divine 
sight  »,  no  one,  of  course,  was  considered  to  possess 
in  a  more  eminent  degree  than  Buddha.  Now  it  was,  we 
are  told,  his  habit,  with  regard  to  incidents  arising  in  the 
bosom  of  his  community,  to  point  or  justify  his  prohib- 
itions or  his  precepts  by  the  opportune  reminiscence  ot 
some  analogous  occasion  which  had  already  confronted 
him  in  the  course  of  his  previous  lives. 

These  three  points  agreed,  all  becomes  perfectly  clear. 
We  admit  fully  henceforth  that  ^akya-Muni,  like  all 
others,  must  have  traversed  a  long  series  of  successive  re- 
births. We  understand,  also,  why  he  accomplished  on  the 


52  JATAKA.S  AT  BARHUT 

way  so  many  good  actions,  displayed  so  many  virtues,  rea- 
lized so  many  superhuman  perfections  :  nothing  less  was 
required  to  enable  him  to  acquire  merits  capable  of  con- 
veying him  to  the  supreme  dignity  of  Buddha.  Nor  could 
we  get  our  information  concerning  his  past  lives  from 
a  better  source,  since  —  if  we  believe  the  tradition  — 
it  is  from  the  mouth  of  the  Master  himself  that  the  story 
had  been  gathered  before  being  consigned  in  writing  to  the 
works  which  have  come  down  to  us  and  which  it  would 
be  useless  to-day  to  enumerate  and  criticize.  If  we  proceed 
to  make  use  of  the  Pali  collection,  it  is  not  that  I  am 
under  any  illusion  as  to  the  antiquity  of  the  prose  com- 
mentary on  the  versified,  the  only  canonical,  part  C)  : 
the  reason  for  this  choice  is  simply  that,  as  containing 
nearly  five  hundred  and  fifty  narratives,  that  collection  is 
by  far  the  most  considerable  of  all. 


II 


The  Bas-reliefs  of  Barhut.  —  Thus  famiharized  afresh  with 
the  jdtakas,  you  will  not  be  surprised  to  note  that  the  sculp- 
tors charged  with  the  decoration  of  the  ancient  Buddhist 
edifices  of  central  India  have  drawn  copious  inspirations 
therefrom.  Not  only  did  they,  as  we  beheve  we  have 
demonstrated  above  Q,  feel  themselves  under  less  restraint 
in  the  treatment  of  subjects  of  this  kind,  but  moreover 
no  subject  could  answer  better  to  the  needs  and  the 
aim  of  the  artist.  Seeing  that  it  was  a  question  of  religious 
foundations,  thai  aim  was  quite  naturally  the  edification 
of  the  faithful,  both  sedentary  and  pilgrim  :  and  what  could 


(i)  On  this  subject  see  below,  essay  VII  on  the  Saddania  jataka 
(2)  See^  p.  23. 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  33 

be  more  edifying,  in  default  of  scenes  derived  from  the  last 
life  of  the  Master,  than  narratives  of  which  he  himself  had 
previously  been  the  hero  before  becoming  the  narrator?  On 
the  other  hand,  their  familiar  and  picturesque  character  fit- 
ted in  marvellously  —  certainly  much  better  than  moral 
considerations  or  metaphysical  speculations  —  with  the 
exigences  of  an  art  so  concrete  as  sculpture  and  necessita- 
ting so  much  precision  in  material  detail.  Thus  the  good 
stone-cutters  of  Barhut  and  Sanchi  have  had  recourse,  like 
the  sculptors  of  our  cathedrals,  to  the  treasure  of  their  «  Gold- 
en Legend  »,  and  have  created,  by  the  very  force  of  things, 
a  plastic  art  at  once  narrative  and  religious,  which  recalls  in 
many  ways  the  formulas  of  our  artists  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
Thus  it  is,  for  example,  that  they  did  not,  any  more  than 
these  latter,  prohibit  the  juxtaposition  of  episodes  and  repe- 
titions of  persons  in  the  framework  of  one  and  the  same 
panel.  We  shall  have  many  opportunities  of  remarking  this 
naive  proceeding. 

But  it  is  well  to  form  beforehand  some  idea  of  the 
monuments  which  these  bas-reliefs  adorned.  The  Buddhist 
sanctuary  was  preeminently  the  stupa,  that  is  the  «  tumu- 
lus »,  and  its  principal  role  was  to  cover  up  a  deposit  of 
relics.  As  we  see  it  in  India  from  the  third  century  before 
our  era,  it  was  already  a  stereotyped  edifice  of  brick  or 
stone,  which  presupposed  the  art  of  the  architect  and  utili- 
zed that  of  the  sculptor.  Its  chief  feature  was  a  full  hemi- 
spherical dome,  usually  raised  on  a  terrace.  This  dome, 
which  was  called  the  egg  (andd),  supported  a  sort  of  kiosk 
(harmika),  itself  surmounted  by  one  or  several  parasols,  an 
emblem  of  which  you  know  the  honorific  signification  in 
the  East.  The  whole  was  surrounded,  like  all  sacred 
places  in  India,  by  a  high  barrier,  at  first  of  wood,  then 
directly  imitated  in  stone  from  its  wooden  prototype.  This 


34  jAtakas  at  barhut 

enclosure  was  flanked  at  the  four  cardinal  points  by  monu- 
mental gates  (toranfl),  with  triple  curved  lintels  of  which 
we  have  fine  examples  at  Sanchi  (*).  On  the  most  ancient 
specimens  from  the  basin  of  the  Ganges  the  decoration  was 
strictly  limited  to  the  doorways  and  railing.  At  Barhut 
medalhons  were  strewn  over  the  upright  pillars  and  cross- 
bars of  the  latter,  whilst  all  along  the  inner  face  of  the 
coping  further  motifs  were  ensconced  in  the  intervals  of 
the  undulations  of  a  serpentine  garland.  You  will  recognize 
one  or  other  alternative  of  this  double  provenance  in  all 
the  reproductions  which  are  about  to  defile  before  your 
eyes  (PI.  V-VI). 

One  last  question  :  Why  have  we  chosen  by  preference 
the  bas-rehefs  of  Barhut?  The  answer  is  easy  :  because  most 
of  them  are  accompanied  by  an  inscription  written  in  the 
oldest  alphabet  of  central  India,  the  one  which  towards  the 
middle  of  the  third  century  before  our  era  was  used  by  the 
famous  king  Agoka  for  his  pious  edicts.  On  one  of  the 
jambs  of  the  eastern  gate,  found  in  situ,  we  read,  in  a 
somewhat  later  script,  a  mention  of  the  ephemeral  suze- 
rain dynasty  of  the  ^urigas,  which  succeeded  the  Maur- 
yas  towards  the  year  i8o  B.  C. ;  it  relates  to  the 
erection  of  the  gate,  or,  to  be  more  exact,  the  replacement 
an  old  wooden  model  by  a  «  stone  work  » ;  and  thus  we 
feel  certain  that  towards  the  end  of  the  second  century 
the  final  touch  must  have  been  given  to  the  decoration  of 
the  stupa,  commenced,  no  doubt,  during  the  third.  This  is 
not  all.  Among  the  hundred  and  sixty  graffiti,  more  or  less, 
observed  on  the  recovered  debris  of  the  balustrade  more 
than  half  are  restricted  to  giving  merely  the  name  of 
the  donor,  male  or  female,  of  such  and  such  a  pillar  or 


(i)  See  below,  pp.  65-66,  and  cf.  pi.  VII  and  VIII,  i. 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  35 

such  and  such  a  transverse  bar;  but  the  rest  give  us  expli- 
cit information  concerning  the  subjects  which  the  sculp- 
tures claimed  to  represent.  Thus  we  have  to  deal  with  bas- 
reliefs  sufficiently  dated  and  identified  beforehand  by  their 
authors  for  the  benefit  of  their  contemporaries  and  of  the 
most  distant  posterity.  In  the  moving  sands  of  Indian  an- 
tiquity we  can  find  no  better  data,  nor  firmer  ground  on 
which  to  work. 


Ill 

The  animals.  —  After  this  indispensable  preparation  we 
may  with  full  knowledge  broach  the  examination  of  the 
twenty-five  jdtakas,  of  which,  possessing  the  text,  we  recog- 
nize also  the  representation .  A  perfectly  natural  plan  will  be 
imposed  upon  us  :  it  will  be,  if  we  may  so  express  it,  the  bio- 
graphical sequence  of  these  successive  lives,  as  well  as  the 
hierarchical  order  of  the  conditions  into  which  the  future 
Buddha  had  successively  to  be  born.  We  shall  see  him 
mount  one  by  one  the  rungs  of  the  ladder  of  beings,  first 
animal,  then  woman,  and  finally  man.  And  indeed,  putting 
aside  all  one's  complacency  as  Indianist,  I  do  not  think  that 
the  imagination  of  any  race  has  ever  created  a  finer  or 
vaster  subject  for  a  poem  than  this  destiny  of  a  single  being 
in  whom  are  shown  all  aspects  of  life,  in  whom  is  concen- 
trated all  the  experience  of  past  ages,  in  one  word,  in  whom 
the  evolution  of  the  entire  human  race  is  reflected.  Unfor- 
tunately, as  usually  happens  in  India,  the  execution  comes 
infinitely  short  of  the  conception.  To  sum  up  in  one  work, 
spacious  and  substantial,  in  view  of  the  immense  and  varied 
career  of  the  Predestined  One,  the  original  Indian  system  ot 
the  universe,  would  have  required  the  powerful  constructive 
genius  of  a  Dante  :  Buddhism  had  not  that  good  fortune. 


36  JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT 

And  this  is  why  we  do  in  Indian  literature  not  meet  with 
more  than  scattered  fragments  of  the  epic  of  the  Bodhi- 
sattva,  or  future  Buddha, 

To-day   we  are   concerned  only  with  the  period  of 
his  previous  lives,  beginning  with  the  most  humble   of 
them  :  but  even  within  these  Hmits  we  cannot  help  but 
regret  the  manner  in  which  the  monks,  more  solicitous  for 
edification  than  for  poetry,  have  bungled  the  subject.  In  the 
same  way  as,  according  to  the  naturalists,  the  embryo  of 
mammaha   reproduces  in  the  course  of  its  development 
the  divers  characteristics  ofthe  inferior  species,  so  we  should 
like  to  follow  through  the  course  of  the  animal  forms 
which  he  remembered  having  assumed  one  after  the  other 
—  fish,  reptile,  bird,  quadruped,  quadruman  —  the  whole 
embryology  of  a  Bodhisattva.   But  for  that  we   should 
have  to  give  ourselves  up,  in  the  midst  ofthe  disorder  —  or 
of  the  still  more  outlandish  order  (')  —  of  the  texts,  to  a 
veritable  task  of  patchwork,  joining  together  here  and  there 
the  scattered  portions  of  a  poem  which  was  never  written. 
Evidently  the  idea  of  following  out  any  series  and  grada- 
tion whatever  did  not  occur  to  the  minds  of  the  compilers 
of  these  stories.  We  must  say  in  excuse  for  them  that  the 
theory  of  evolution  troubled  them,  for  reasons  easy  to 
guess,  much  less  than  it  does  us.  Furthermore,  if  they 
are  incapable  of  composing   a  harmonious  whole,   they 
make  up  for  it  in  detail  by  the  naive  savour  and,  at  times, 
humourous  attractiveness  of  their  style  :  it  is  impossible  to 
deny  them  a  veritable  talent  as  narrators.  Once  we  have 
renounced  for  them  higher  ambitions,  the  compensation 
will  appear  to  us  very  appreciable.  Their  stories  of  ani- 


(i)  We  know  that  in  the  Pali  collection  of  Jdtakas,  for  example,  these  are 
classed  solely  according  to  the  increasing  number  of  verses  which  they 
contain,  without  regard  to  subject. 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  37 

mals  form  in  fact  a  veritable  «  Jungle  Book  »  long  before 
that  which  did  so  much  for  the  reputation  of  Rudyard 
Kipling  :  moreover,  the  latter  was,  in  his,  directly  inspi- 
red by  popular  Indian  tradition. 

Let  us  examine  first  the  stories  which  present  ani- 
mals only,  and  which,  consequently,  are  pure  «  fables  ». 
There  were  related  in  India  two  thousand  years  and 
more  ago  tales  with  which  we  are  still  to-day  familiar 
from  infancy.  I  will  cite,  for  example,  that  of  «  the  Tor- 
toise and  the  two  Ducks  »,  which  is  depicted  already  on  the 
ancient  balustrade  of  Bodh-Gaya.  Among  the  fragments  of 
Barhut  which  have  survived  until  our  time  we  do  not  find 
any  equally  celebrated.  On  the  other  hand,  when  we  see  the 
Bodhisattva  appear  there,  he  has  already  arrived  at  the  state, 
or  if  you  prefer,  at  the  genus  of  bird. 

I.  Here  (Cunningham,  XXVII,  11)  in  his  character  of 
royal  swan  he  refuses,  if  we  may  so  express  it,  the  «  hand  » 
of  his  daughter  to  the  peacock,  in  spite  of  his  magnificent 
plumage  and  because  of  his  indecent  dance  (Jdt.  32). 

II.  There  (Cunningham,  XLV,  7)  under  the  form  of  a 
pigeon, he  reprimands  the  lazy  and  gluttonous  crow,  whom 
the  cook  punishes  so  cruelly  for  an  attempted  raid  upon 
his  pots(/4^  42;  cf.  274  and  375). 

III.  Elsewhere  (Cunningham,  XLVII,  5)  he  is  the  cock 
perched  on  a  tree,  who  wisely  resists  the  treacherous 
seductions  of  a  she-cat  {Jdt.  383).  —  La  Fontaine  (^Fables, 
II,  5)  says  :  of  a  fox. 

IV.  Still  further  on  (Cunningham,  XXV,  2),  born  an 
elephant,  he  exterminates,  with  the  help  of  his  faithful  wife, 
a  terrible  enemy  of  his  race,  an  enormous  crab,  cc  as  broad 
as  a  threshing-floor  »,  which,  in  order  to  devour  them, 
had  Ridden  itself  at  the  bottom  of  the  lake  in  which  the 
pachyderms  were  accustomed  to  bathe  (Jdt.  267). 


38  JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT 

V  As  we  cannot  see  all  in  detail,  I  will  detain  you 
only  a  moment  with  the  fifth  jdtaka,  spoken  (and  even 
written)  of  as  «  of  the  Quail ».  As  usual,  the  text  (/i/.  3  5  7) 
indicates  first  of  all  on  what  occasion  the  fable  was  related . 
It  was  not  the  first  time  that  Devadatta,  the  traitor  cousin 
of  Buddha  and  the  Judas  Iscariot  ofhis  legend,  proved  the 
hardness  of  his  heart.  At  that  time  the  Bodhisattva  was 
born  in  the  form  of  an  elephant,  chief  of  a  troop  of 
80,000  others  —  India  is  very  fond  indeed  of  this  round 
number.  A  quail,  which  had  made  her  nest  within  their 
pasture  ground  and  whose  young,  scarcely  hatched,  were 
still  incapable  of  moving,  begs  him  to  spare  her  offspring. 
He  wilHngly  consents  to  this,  and  by  his  orders  his 
80,000  subjects  respect  the  young  birds  as  they  file  past  : 
doubtless,  this  is  what  they  are  in  the  act  of  doing  on  the 
right  lower  part  of  the  medallion  (pi.  V,  i).But  he  warns 
the  quail  that  a  fierce  solitary  is  following  him.  The  latter, 
deaf  to  all  prayers,  crushes  the  nest  :  you  perceive  one  o^ 
the  young  ones  under  his  right  hind  foot,  exactly  on  the 
edge  of  the  break  in  the  stone,  whilst  the  weeping  mother 
is  perched  on  a  tree  in  front  of  him.  But  vengeance  is  not 
long  delayed  :  for  already  on  the  bulging  forehead  of  the 
cruel  elephant  a  crow  is  busy,  pecking  out  his  eyes  with  its 
beak,  whilst  a  big  «  blue  fly  »  deposits  its  eggs  in  the 
sockets.  A  third  ally  of  the  quail,  its  gossip  the  frog,  is  sea- 
ted at  the  top  of  the  medallion  in  a  conventional  rocky 
landscape.  Its  role,  in  the  story  as  on  the  bas-relief,  is  by  its 
croaking  to  attract  the  enormous  animal,  which  is  blind 
and  burning  with  fever,  by  making  it  believe  in  the  proxi- 
mity of  water.  Thus  it  leads  him  right  to  the  edge  of  a 
sharp  precipice,  where  he  falls  headlong  :  only  his  hind 
part  has  not  yet  quite  disappeared  into  the  abyss.  Appli- 
cation :  the  Bodhisattva  was  the  leader  of  the  troop  of 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  39 

elephants,  D^vadatta  was  the  solitary.  —  «  Well,  what 
about  the  quail  »,you  will  ask.  — You  desire  to  know  too 
much. 


IV 

The  Bodhisattva  under  an  animal  form  and  mankind.  — 
In  these  five  fables  man  does  not  intervene.  Here  are  five 
others  in  which  he  is  seen  and,  at  first,  hardly  to  his  credit. 

VI.  In  order  to  follow  up  the  two  preceding  births,  let 
us  take  a  new  one  in  the  form  of  an  elephant  and  even 
of  an  elephant  «  with  six  tusks  »  Qdt.  514).  The  wonder- 
ful animal  is  standing  in  the  foreground,  leaning  against  the 
banyan  tree  (pi.  XXIX,  i)  which  the  oldest  tradition  assigns 
to  him  for  a  shelter.  Behind  him,  likewise  in  profile,  is  his 
first  wife,  her  left  temple  adorned  with  a  lotus,  whilst, 
seen  full  face  in  the  background,  his  second  wife,  furious 
at  not  having  herself  received  any  such  flowery  ornament, 
is  showing  unmistakable  signs  of  jealous  anger.  She  goes 
so  far  as  to  suffer  herself  to  die  of  hunger,  while  forming  the 
aspiration  of  being  born  again  as  a  woman  and  becoming 
queen  of  Benares.  Scarcely  has  her  double  wish  been  ful- 
filled than  she  charges  the  cleverest  hunter  in  the  country 
to  carry  out  her  vengeance.  Hidden  at  the  bottom  of  a  pit, 
the  latter  discharges  a  poisoned  arrow  into  the  bowels  of 
the  elephant,  as  is  written  and  is  elsewhere  found  figured, 
on  the  sculptures  of  Amaravati  and  of  Gandhara.  But  at 
Barhut,  when  we  again  (on  the  left  of  the  medallion)  see 
the  hero  of  the  story,  it  is  already  the  moment  when, 
wounded  to  death  and  practising  the  virtue,  which  was 
Buddhist  before  becoming  Christian,  of  pardoning  all 
oJ0Fences,  he  docilely  stoops  down,  in  order  to  allow  his 
enemy  to  cut  off  his  triple  tusks  with  the  help  of  an  enor- 


40  JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT 

mous  saw.  We  must  turn  to  the  Pali  collection  or  to  the 
paintings  of  the  Ajanta  Caves  to  learn  that  the  wicked 
queen,  at  the  sight  of  the  tusks  of  her  former  husband, 
which  her  emissary  brought  back  to  her,  felt  nevertheless  a 
revulsion  of  conscience,  of  which  she  died  heart-broken  Q. 

VII.  No  less  naively  illustrated  is  the  ne-birth  as  an 
antelope,  kurunga.  On  pi.  V,  2  we  read  as  plainly  as  in  the 
text  {Jdt.  206)  that  there  were  once  an  antelope,  a  tortoise 
and  a  wood-pecker,  which,  united  by  friendship,  lived  toge- 
ther on  the  shores  of  a  lake  in  the  depths  of  the  woods. 
The  antelope  has  just  been  caught  in  a  trap  :  and,  whilst 
the  tortoise  exerts  itself  to  gnaw  through  the  fetters,  the 
wood-pecker,  represented  a  second  time  on  the  right,  does 
all  that  it  can,  in  its  character  of  bird  of  ill-omen,  to 
delay  the  coming  of  the  hunter.  Soon  —  but  no  room  could 
be  found  in  the  picture  for  this  second  adventure  —  the 
antelope  will  in  its  turn  deliver  the  tortoise  : 

Ainsi  chacun  en  son  endroit 
S'entremet,  agit  et  travaille, 

as  we  are  told  by  La  Fontaine,  who  to  our  trio  of  friends 
has  added  also  a  rat  {Fables,  XII,  15). 

VIII.  Another  medallion  (pi.  V,  3)  contains  no  less  than 
three  episodes.  At  the  bottom  the  tender-hearted  stag,  ruru, 
saves  the  son  of  the  merchant,  who  was  going  to  drown 
himself  in  the  Ganges,  and  brings  him  on  his  back  to  the 
bank,  where  one  of  his  roes  is  stooping  to  drink  at  the  river. 
At  the  top,  on  the  right,  the  king  of  Benares,  guided  by  the 
young  merchant,  who  is  evidently  acting  as  his  infor- 
mant, is  preparing  with  bent  bow  to  kill  the  great  rare 
stag,  the  object  of  his  desires  as  a  hunter.  But  the  words  ad- 


(i)  We  shall  have  an  opportunity  later  (Essay  VII)  of  recurring  more  in 
detail  to  the  Saddanta-jdtaka  (cf.  pi.  XXIX  and  XXX). 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  41 

dressed  to  him  by  the  latter  quickly  cause  the  weapons  to 
fall  from  his  hands,  and  we  find  him  again  in  the  centre 
in  edifying  conversation  with  the  wonderful  animal,  whilst 
the  treacherous  informer  seems  to  be  hiding  behind  the 
royal  person.  We  know  from  another  source  that  the 
Bodhisattva,  always  charitable,  intercedes  with  the  king  in 
favour  of  his  perfidious  debtor  Qdt.  482  ;  not  to  be  confused 
with  12). 

IX.  Of  the  two  births  as  ape,  which  we  meet  next,  the 
one  (Jdt.  516)  contains  a  story  with  a  quite  analogous 
moral,  but  the  bas-relief  is  very  much  damaged  (Cunnin- 
gham, XXXIII,  5),  A  Brahman,  saved  by  the  Bodhi- 
sattva, who  rescues  him  from  the  bottom  of  a  precipice, 
repays  him  with  the  blackest  ingratitude,  attempting  to 
assassinate  his  benefactor  during  his  sleep.  On  this  occa- 
sion also  the  magnanimous  animal  forgives. 

X.  More  original  and  much  better  preserved  is  the  other 
jdtaka  of  Mahakapi  (Jdt.  407;  pi.  V,  4).  At  that  time  the 
Bodhisattva  was  in  the  Himalayas,  king  of  80.000  monkeys, 
and  he  took  them  to  feed  upon  a  gigantic  mango-tree  — 
others  say  a  fig-tree,  and  the  bas-rehef  agrees  with  this  — 
whose  fruits  were  delicious,  but  the  branches  of  which  unfor- 
tunately spread  over  the  Ganges.  In  spite  of  the  precautions 
prescribed  by  the  foreseeing  wisdom  of  the  «  great  mon- 
keys, a  fruit,  hidden  by  a  nest  of  ants,  escapes  the  investi- 
gations of  his  people^  ripens,  falls  into  the  stream  of  water, 
and  is  caught  in  the  nets  which  surround  the  bathing-place 
of  the  king  of  Benares.  The  latter  fmds  it  so  much  to  his 
taste  that,  in  order  to  procure  others  like  it,  he  does  not  hesi- 
tate, when  he  has  obtained  information  from  the  «  wood- 
rangers  » ,  to  follow  the  river  to  its  source,  until  he  arrives  at 
the  wonderful  tree.  At  night  the  monkeys  gather  together 
as  usual  :  but  the  king  of  Benares  has  the  tree  surrounded 


42  JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT 

by  his  archers,  with  fixed  arrows  and  only  awaiting  the  day 
to  begin  the  slaughter.  There  is  alarm  in  the  camp  of  the 
Bandar-log,  as  Kipling  expresses  it.  Their  leader  reas- 
sures them  and  promises  to  save  their  lives.  With  a 
gigantic  spring,  of  which  he  alone  is  capable,  he  clears  a 
hundred  bow  lengths  as  far  as  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river, 
there  cuts  a  long  rattan,  the  one  end  of  which  he  fixes  to 
a  tree  on  this  bank,  whilst  he  attaches  the  other  to  his  foot, 
and  with  another  spring  returns  to  his  own  people.  But 
the  vine  which  he  has  cut  is  a  httle  too  short,  and  it  is  only 
by  stretching  out  his  hands  that  he  can  reach  the  branches 
of  the  fig-tree.  Nevertheless,  the  80,000  monkeys  pass  over 
this  improvised  bridge  and  descend  in  safety  on  the  other 
side  of  the  river.  This  latter  is,  as  usual,  indicated  by 
sinuous  lines,  in  which  a  tortoise  and  some  fish  are  swim- 
ming. But  already  two  men  of  the  court  of  the  king  of 
Benares  are  holding  by  the  four  corners  a  striped  coverlet, 
into  which  the  Bodhisattva,  exhausted  with  fatigue,  has  only 
to  let  himself  fall  when  the  last  of  his  subjects  has  been 
saved.  At  the  bottom  (and  this  is  the  second  picture  within 
the  frame)  we  find  him  sitting  in  conversation  with  his 
human  colleague,  who  is  amazed  at  his  vigour,  his  inge- 
nuity, and  his  devotion  to  his  people.  Between  them  a 
person,  of  whom  we  see  only  the  bust  and  the  hands 
respectfully  joined  together,  is,  if  we  may  judge  from  the 
absence  of  the  turban,  a  man  of  low  caste,  apparently  that 
one  of  the  «  wood-rangers  »  who  guided  the  royal  caravan 
towards  the  Himalaya. 

V 

The  Bodhisattva  in  human  form  and  animals.  —  In  this 
last  narrative  the  king  of  Benares  gives  a  proof  of  good 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  43 

feeling  :  therefore  he  is  presented  to  us  as  an  ancient  incar- 
nation of    Ananda,  the  well-beloved  disciple.  In  the  four 
preceding  fables  man  appears  to  us  in  the  odious  form  of 
a  hunter,  except  when  he  reveals  himself  as  a  monster  of 
ingratitude,  whilst  the  brute  continues  to  show  an  example 
of  the  most  difficult  virtues.  However,  we  must  not  be  in 
too  great  a  hurry  to  conclude  that,  in  the  Jdtakas,  the  better 
part  always  belongs  to  the  animals  :  in  fact,  it  only  falls  to 
them  when  they  incarnate  the  Bodhisattva.  In  other  words, 
in  the  Buddhist  adaptation  to  which  these  tales  have  been 
subjected  the  Bodhisattva  has  been  incarnated  in  animal 
form  only  in  those  cases  where  it  was  decidedly  more 
flattering  to  be  beast  than  to  be  man.  Here  are  four  other 
examples  which  will  abundantly  prove  to  us  that  ingrati- 
tude, foolishness,  the  aggressive  instinct,  and  dishonesty  are 
not,  in  the  minds  of  our  authors,  the  privilege  of  humanity 
alone,  as  you  might  have  been  led  to  believe.  The  stories 
ought  indeed  to  come  a  little  later  in  the  plan  which  we 
have  adopted,  since  the  Bodhisattva  is  there  already  cloth- 
ed in  the  human  form  par  excellence,  I  mean  that  of  a  man  : 
but  for  the  advantage  of  warning  ourselves  against  a  wrong 
idea  it  is  worth  while  slightly  to  disarrange  the  hierarchical 
order  of  the  sexes. 

XI.  Do  you  desire  further  simian  stories?  Look  on  the 
left  of  pi.  VI,  I  atthis  young  novice,  or  Brahmanic  student, 
who  is  giving  a  thirsty  monkey  something  to  drink.  Now 
he  goes  away  towards  the  right,  having  loaded  on  his 
shoulders,  at  the  two  ends  of  a  stick  placed  like  a  balancing 
beam,  his  two  round  pitchers,  suspended  in  nets  of  cord 
after  the  manner  of  the  time  and  of  the  present  day;  mean- 
while the  animal,  who  has  mounted  into  the  tree  again, 
makes  grimaces  at  him  as  a  reward  for  his  charity :  «  Oblige 
a  villain,  and  he  will  spit  in  your  face  »,  says  our  proverb. 


44  JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT 

If  we  are  to  believe  the  text,  the  monkey  did  worse  still  on 
the  head  of  the  Bodhisattva,  a  thing  which  is  quite  among 
the  habits  of  these  horrid  beasts.  It  is  needless  to  repeat  to 
you  that  he  was  none  other  than  Devadatta  Qdt.  174). 

XII.  Another  time  Qdt.  46  and  268),  a  gardener,  wishing 
to  take  his  hoHday,  has  charged  the  monkeys  which  haunt 
his  garden  to  water  it  in  his  stead.  And  in  fact  they  set 
about  it  with  pitchers  (pi.  VI,  2);  but  on  a  suggestion  ot 
their  king,  who  by  nature  prefers  to  do  things  methodi- 
cally and  does  not  intend  his  water  to  be  wasted,  they 
begin  by  pulling  up  every  shrub  in  the  nursery,  so  as  to 
measure  by  the  length  of  its  roots  the  exact  quantity  of 
water  which  it  will  require.  The  Bodhisattva  is  the  «  wise 
man  »,  who  enters  by  the  left  and  surprizes  them  while 
thus  occupied.  He  does  not  restrict  himself  to  stating  that 
hell  is  paved  with  good  intentions  :  there  is  no  lack  of 
moralizing,  also,  about  the  stupidity  of  the  king  of  the 
monkeys  :  if  he  is  the  most  intelligent,  what  must  be 
thought  of  the  rest  of  the  troop  ? 

XIII.  On  another  fragment  of  the  coping  (Cunningham, 
XLI,  1-3)  is  figured  in  two  successive  scenes  the  story  of  a 
stupid  fighting  ram,  who  is  inspired  by  his  warlike  instincts 
to  charge  a  Brahmanic  ascetic  :  we  must  say  in  his  excuse 
that  the  latter  was  wearing  a  garment  of  skin  (Jdt.  324). 
The  whole  humour  of  the  affair  is  that  the  monk  imagines, 
at  the  moment  when  the  ram  stoops,  ready  to  rush  upon 
him,  that  even  the  beasts  bow  before  his  worth.  It  is 
in  vain  that  a  young  merchant,  no  other  than  the  Bodhi- 
sattva, warns  him  of  his  imprudent  mistake  :  there  he  is 
soon  on  his  back,  upset  along  with  the  double  burden 
which  he  was  balancing  on  his  shoulder. 

XIV.  Again  in  another  place  it  is  the  turn  of  the  Bodhi- 
sattva to  carry  the  water-vessel  and  wear  the  big  chignon 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  45 

and  the  summary  costume  of  an  ascetic  (pi.  VI,  3);  and  it  is 
in  this  guise  (and  not  that  of  a  tree-god.  as  the  commentary 
gives  it,  Jdt.  400)  that  he  is  present  as  a  simple  spectator 
at  a  very  amusing  scene.  Two  otters,  by  uniting  their  efforts, 
have  dragged  a  big  fish  to  the  dry  ground  on  the  bank  of  a 
river,  the  one  holding  it  by  the  head,  the  other  by  the  tail; 
but,  their  united  exploit  accomphshed.  they  quarrel  about 
the  sharing  of  the  booty  and  take  a  passing  jackal  as  arbiter. 
The  latter  is  represented  twice,  first  seated  between  the 
litigants,  then  walking  proudly  away  to  the  right  :  he  is 
carrying  the  best  piece  in  his  mouth  and  leaving  to  the  two 
deceived  otters  only  the  head  and  tail  of  their  prey.  The 
moral  is  easily  guessed.  The  text  states  very  explicitly  that 
the  best  law-suits  in  the  world  only  serve  to  enrich  the 
coffers  of  the  king;  and  you,  for  your  part,  have  in  the 
«  Jackal  and  the  two  Otters  »  already  recognised  an  Indian 
variant  of  the  «  Oyster  and  the  Litigants  »of  La  Fontaine. 
XV.  For  the  rest  we  must  not  in  the  presence  of  the 
extreme  variety  of  these  tales  claim  to  set  up  too  general 
rules.  A  little  further    on    (pi.  VI,  4)   animals   reappear 
side  by  side    with  another  identical  incarnation  of  the 
Bodhisattva,    and  this   time  they   play  a  most  honou- 
rable  part.    The   bas-relief  is   here  much   simplified  in 
comparison  with  the  version  of  the  Jdtaka  (488),  which 
gives  to  the  hero  a  sister,  six  brothers  and  two  servants.  At 
Barhut  we  see  at  his  side  only  a  woman  —  likewise  clo- 
thed in  the  ascetic  costume  —  who  may  very  well  in  the 
intention  of  the  sculptor  be  the  wife  of  his  lay  years, 
and  of  whom  the  Pali  prose,  with  its  accustomed  and 
perhaps  excessive  modesty,  will  have  made  his  sister :  has 
it  not  been  bold  enough  Qdt.  461)  to  give  us  Rama  as  the 
brother,  and  not  the  husband,  of  Sita?  On  the  other  hand,  a 
monkey  and  an  elephant  likewise  take  part  in  this  scene,    ■ 


46  JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT 

unless  the  latter  is  merely  the  mount  of  ^akra  :  for  the 
cc  Indra  of  the  Gods  »  looks  upon  it  as  a  duty  to  bring 
back  the  bundle  of  lotus  stalks  (rather  similar  to  our 
bundles  of  asparagus  and  just  like  those  which  I  have  seen 
sold,  nowadays,  in  Kashmir,  in  the  market  of  Srinagar), 
which  gave  its  name  to  the  story.  That  is  all  the  food  of 
the  ascetic,  and  on  three  days  in  succession  ^akra,  in  order 
to  prove  him,  has  stolen  it,  but  without  succeeding  in 
moving  him.  At  the  moment  when  he  repents,  each  one 
of  the  characters,  both  human  and  animal,  was  about  to 
exonerate  himself  from  this  theft  by  a  veracious  oath,  even 
the  monkey  declaring  himself  incapable  of  it;  for,  it  is  said 
somewhere,  «  in  the  company  of  saints  everyone  becomes 
a  saint  ». 


VI 

The  Bodhisattva  and  women.  —  With  these  reserva- 
tions, these  two  series  of  examples,  preserved  by  chance, 
suffice  to  prove  what  I  was  just  now  saying  concerning 
the  double  attitude  of  the  Jdtakas  with  regard  to  animals. 
If  from  the  beasts  we  now  pass  —  without  any  idea  of 
comparison,  be  it  said  —  to  the  women,  we  observe  that 
at  the  very  first  the  same  distinction  seems  necessary. 
Either  we  are  in  the  presence  of  one  of  those  beautiful 
types  of  faithful  wife  which  are  an  honour  to  Indian  litera- 
ture, and  then  we  may  safely  wager  that  the  Bodhisattva 
is  this  time  incarnated  in  the  feminine  form;  or  else  it  is 
a  masculine  role  which  is  assigned  to  him,  and  in  this  case 
the  texts,  giving  free  scope  to  an  instinct  for  satire  worthy 
of  our  Gaul  of  the  Middle  Ages,  becomes  inexhaustible  on 
the  subject  of  the  malice  and  perversity  of  the  fair  sex. 
The  stories  which  they  tell  of  it  (we  shall,  of  course, 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  47 

adduce  only  those  which  are  figured,  more  or  less,  at 
Barhut)  lack  neither  raciness  nor  verve.  In  fact,  whilst  the 
stories  which  have  come  before  us  up  till  now  were  pro- 
perly fables,  we  have  now  to  do  with  the  kind  of  jolly 
tales  which  in  the  Romance  languages  of  mediaeval 
Europe  were  called  «  fabliaux  »  or  «  fableaux  ». 

XVI.  On  a  medalhon  which  can  hardly  with  propriety 
be  reproduced    (Cunningham,   XXVI,   7),    we   witness 
the  conception  and  birth  of  the  rishi  Rishya^rihga  (Ante- 
lope-horn) or   Ekagririga  (Unicorn),   as    celebrated    in 
the  Brahmanic  epic  as  in  the  Buddhist  legend.   Son  of 
an  anchorite  and  a  roe,  he  knows  nothing  of  a  sex  to 
which  he  is  not  even  indebted  for  his  mother,  and  conse- 
quently he  will  be  an  easy  prey  to   the  first  women  he 
meets.  On  this  common  trunk  are  grafted  two  groups  of 
stories.  In  the  first,  the  young  hermit  is  scarcely  adolescent 
and  lives  with  his  father.  A  neighbouring  king,  in  order 
to  put  an  end  to  a  famine,  or  simply  because  he  has  no 
son,  forms  the  design  of  taking  him  for  his  son-in-law  : 
and  his  own  daughter,  or,  in  the  less  ancient  versions, 
some  courtesans  charge  themselves  with  the  task  of  leading 
him   astray   and   bringing   him  back  to   the  court  Qdt. 
526;  Mahdvastu,  III,  143;  Mahdbhdrata,  III,  110-113  etc). 
Without  great  difficulty  they  succeed,  as  soon  as  the  father 
has  turned  his  back,  being  helped  as  much  as  they  could 
desire  by  the  naive  candour  of  the  young  man,  who  as  yet 
has  seen  nothing  of  the  world,  for  whom  a  rebounding  ball 
seems  a  marvel,  who  takes  cakes  for  delicious  fruits  without 
pips,  and  who  calls  carriages  «  moving  huts  ».  He  appre- 
hends still  other  causes  of  amazement,  not  less  ingenious, 
but  already  less  innocent,  at  the  aspect,  so  new  to  him,  of 
his  feminine  visitors:  and  you  can  easily  conceive  that  this 
theme  of  the  spontaneous  awakening  of  the  sexual  instinct 


48  JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT 

in  the  most  ignorant  of  young  men  should  have  served  as 
an  example  to  Boccacio  and  for  a  story  to  La  Fontaine 
{Conies,  III,  i,  «  The  Geese  of  Brother  Philip  »,  taken  from 
the  preamble  to  the  fourth  day  of  the  Decameron). 

Of  the  second  form  of  the  legend  the  clearest  summary 
that  we  at  present  possess  has  been  preserved  to  us  by  the 
Chinese  pilgrim  Hiuan-tsang  with  reference  to  a  ruined 
convent   of    Gandhara,  in    the  extreme    north-west    of 
India.  «  It  was  in  this  place,  he  tells  us,  that  formerly  there 
lived  the  mk'  Unicorn;  thism^f,  having  allowed  himself  to 
be  led  astray  by  a  courtesan,  lost  his  supernatural  powers; 
the  courtesan  mounted  on  his  shoulders  and  thus  returned 
to  the  town  »  (cf.  Jdt.  523 ;  DagakumAracarita^  II,  2  etc.).  Here 
there  is  no  longer  any  question  of  the  father  of  the  hermit, 
and  the  age  of  the  latter  is  left  undetermined.  On  the  other 
hand,  what  we  are  told  of  him  reminds  us  of  the  fables 
detailed  in  our  relations  of  animal  stories,  the  so-called  «  Bes- 
tiaria  »  of  the  Middle  Ages,  concerning  the  Unicorn  which 
only  a  young  girl  is  able  to  capture  :   «  And  she  (says 
their  source,  the  Physiologus)  commands  the  animal  and  it 
obeys  her;  and  she  leads  it  away  to  the  king's  palace  ».  Why 
there  rather  than  elsewhere?  This  unexpected  trait  forms,  on 
the  contrary,  an  integral  part  of  the  adventure  of  the  shy 
anchorite  Unicorn,  whom  the  king's  daughter  very  natu- 
rally leads  to  her  father,  or  whom  the  courtesan  has  wagered 
that  she  will  bring  back  to  the  court.  And,  again,  the 
piquant  detail  that  this  latter  mounts  astride  on  the  shoulders 
of  the  wise  rishi  awakens  invincibly  the  memory  of  the 
celebrated  «  Lay  of  Aristotle  » . 

XVII.  A  fragment  of  another  medallion,  found  only  by 
the  greatest  chance,  bears  as  title  the  three  first  words  of 
the  one  stanza  which  constitutes  the  ancient  nucleus  of 
Jataka  62  :  «  The  music  that  the  Brahman...  »  :and,  in  fact, 


JATAKAS  AT  feARHUT  49 

it  shows  US  a  caste  man  seated,  with  his  eyes  bandaged  and 
playing  the  harp,  whilst  a  couple  dance  before  him  (Cunning- 
ham, XXVI,  8).  He  is  the  chaplain  of  the  king  of  Benares, 
and  had,  we  are  told,  a  habit  of  gaming  with  his  master. 
But  the  king,  each  time  he  threw  the  dice,  used,  in  order  to 
bring  himself  good  luck,  to  hum  four  verses,  taken  from 
some  popular  song,  which  were  not  very  respectful 
to  the  virtue  of  women,  and  by  force  of  this  truth  he 
won  every  time.  The  Brahman,  in  a  fair  way  to  being  ruin- 
ed, gives  up  playing  and  decides  to  rear  a  new-born  girl- 
child  without  her  ever  seeing  any  other  man  than  himself. 
She  has  scarcely  reached  marriagable  age  when  he,  in  his 
turn,  challenges  the  king,  whose  word,  having  become  false, 
is  no  longer  efficacious,  so  that  he  loses  game  after  game. 
Thwarted,  and  guessing  what  is  the  snake  under  the  rock, 
he  charges  one  of  his  agents  to  seduce  the  only  real  virtue  in 
his  kingdom .  This  plan  does  readily  succeed ;  and  it  must  be 
believed  that  intelligence  comes  to  a  girl  still  more  quickly 
than  to  a  boy.  The  young  novice's  mind  is  so  readily  and 
so  effectually  enlightened,  that  she  consents  to  organize  the 
little  scene  of  comedy  represented  by  the  bas-relief,  and  it  is 
with  her  lover  that  she  is  dancing  to  the  sound  of  the  harp 
played  by  the  Winded  Brahman.  I  lay  no  stress  upon  the  rest 
of  the  story  or  how  she  succeeds  in  exonerating  herself 
by  making  a  false  oath  true,  a  device  equally  well  known  to 
our  folk-lore  :  the  important  thing  is  that  in  this  Indian 
heroine  you  have  been  allowed  to  salute  in  passing  the 
type  of  the  eternal  Agnes. 

XVIII.  Even  the  single  story  consecrated  to  the  praise 
of  woman  fails  not  to  be  well-known  to  our  medisevahsts 
under  the  name  of  «  Constant  du  Hamel  ».  Certainly,  we 
must  immediately  deduct  from  this  last  story  some 
details  which  truly  smack  too  much  of  its  native  soil  :  I 


50  JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT 

refer  to  the  vengeance  exercised  by  the  villain  on  the 
wives  «  of  the  provost,  the  forester  and  the  priest ».  This 
manner  of  applying  the  law  of  retaliation,  and  even  with 
interest  —  for  the  peasant  does  to  another  what  the  other 
has  merely  had  the  intention  of  doing  to  him  —  is  a  trait 
eminently  GaUic  ;  and  you  will  not  be  in  any  way  astonished 
to  observe  that  it  was  evidently  the  part  which  La  Fon- 
taine desired  to  retain  of  the  story,  when  he  put  it  into 
verse  in  his  tale  of  «  the  people  of  Rheims  »  :  you  will  un- 
derstand no  less  clearly  that  the  Indian  versions  contain 
nothing  of  the  kind.  For  the  rest,  the  accord  would  be 
truly  too  astonishing,  if  it  were  not  a  case  of  a  borrowing 
by  European  literature  from  that  of  India  {Jdt.  ')46;Kathd~ 
saritsdgara,  I,  4  etc.).  Taken  on  the  whole,  it  is  the  Pali  text 
which  most  nearly  approaches  the  bas-relief  of  Barhut 
(pi.  V,  5)  :  there  also  Amara,  the  virtuous  wife,  whose 
husband  is  absent,  has  four  suitors  to  whom  she  assigns 
an  interview  for  each  of  the  watches  of  the  same  night, 
and  it  is  also  in  great  esparto  baskets  that  siie  causes  her 
tricked  lovers  to  be  packed  by  her  servants.  At  the  moment 
chosen  by  the  sculptor  we  are  in  the  midst  of  the  court : 
the  king  is  seated  on  his  throne,  surrounded  by  his  minis- 
ters, and  at  his  right  side  one  of  the  women  of  the  harem 
is  waving  a  fly-flapper.  Amara  is  standing  on  the  other 
side,  her  left  hand  on  the  shoulder  of  her  attendant,  and  at 
her  order  the  covers  of  three  of  the  baskets  have  already 
been  raised  and  the  heads  of  three  of  the  dehnquents  unco- 
vered, whilst  two  coolies  bring  the  fourth.  But  the  Singha- 
lese compilation  dismisses  this  story  jn  ten  lines,  as  an 
episode  in  a  long  narrative,  and  consents  to  see  in  Amara 
only  the  wife  of  the  absent  Bodhisattva  :  for  it  is  quite 
resigned  to  represent  the  latter  as  an  animal,  a  pariah  or 
even  a  bandit,  but  never,  no  !  never,  a  woman,  be  she,  as  in 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  51 

this  case,  a  paragon  of  all  the  virtues.  If,  however,  we  come 
to  realize  that  the  jdtaka  in  question  has  the  honour  of  a 
complete  medallion  and  that  these  representations  have  no 
edifying  interest  except  on  the  condition  that  the  future 
Buddha  there  appears  in  person,  it  will  soon  be  granted 
that  there  are  great  chances  that  the  sculptor  regarded  him 
as  incarnated  here  in  the  feminine  form.  Even  if  the  author 
had  not  himself  made  this  identification,  everything 
invited  the  spectator  to  do  so.  The  inscription  on  the  bas- 
relief  (jvflfflw^//'ct%aw  jdtakam)  does  not  contradict  it  :  for 
the  Pali  tradition  also  makes  Amara  to  be  born  in  one  of  the 
four  suburbs  Yavamajjhaka,  situated  at  the  four  gates  of 
the  capital  ofMithila. 

However  it  may  be  as  regards  this  particular  point,  the 
tremendous  buffoonery  of  the  situation  could  not  escape 
the  worshippers,  and  they  must  have  been  at  least  as  much 
amused  as  edified.  If  we  ourselves  look  at  it  more  closely, 
we  shall  not  be  able  to  avoid  the  impression  that,  with  all 
her  virtue,  Amara  was  not  exempt  from  mischief.  Doubt- 
less she  had  recourse  to  the  arsenal  of  her  tricks  only 
for  a  good  motive ;  but  we  tremble  at  the  thought  of  what 
would  happen  to  her  husband,  if  this  astute  woman  em- 
ployed in  deceiving  him  a  quarter  of  the  mahce  that  she 
displays  in  keeping  herself  faithful.  In  one  word,  and 
with  all  taken  into  account,  whether  the  story  be  written 
in  praise  of  the  fair  sex  or  not,  it  is  always  the  same  crea- 
ture of  perfidy,  if  not  of  voluptuousness,  with  whom  we 
have  to  deal  :  or,  to  put  it  better,  we  observe  that  the  quite 
monastic  mistrust  and  aversion  which  Buddhism  professed 
towards  woman  are  (we  may  say)  never  disarmed.  Of  all 
the  snares  of  Mara  the  Malignant,  is  she  not  the  worst  ?  And 
was  it  not  solely  in  the  rupture  of  all  family  ties,  com- 
mencing with  the  conjugal  tie,  that  the  assured  pledge  of 
salvation  was  supposed  to  be  found? 


52  JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT 

XIX.  Among  our  bas-reliefs  we  find  still  another  fairly 
picturesque  illustration  of  this  moral  conception.  Itis  taken 
from  the  history  of  Mahajanaka  (Jat.  539).  A  son,  born  in 
exile,  of  the  widow  of  a  king  of  Mithila,  I  will  pass  over 
the  adventures  which  finally  re-establish  him  on  the  throne 
which  his  uncle  has  usurped,  and  at  the  same  time  win 
for  him  the  hand  of  his  beautiful  cousin  Sivali.  What  is  of 
importance  tons  here  is  the  resolution,  which  he  soon  forms, 
of  taking  to  the  religious  life  and  the  useless  eftorts  to  which 
his  wife  resorts  in  order  to  retain  him  in  the  world.  At 
last  he  departs;  but  his  wife  belongs  to  that  variety  of 
woman  which  our  writers  of  vaudevilles  call  «  cHnging  »  ; 
and  she  obstinately  adheres  to  his  steps.  Vainly  does  a 
remnant  of  politeness  lead  him  to  make  use  of  various 
symbols  in  order  to  mark  his  decided  intention  to  deprive 
himself  henceforth  of  a  companionship  which  he  looks 
upon  as  an  obstacle  to  his  deliverance  [:  she  will  listen 
to  none  of  them,  not  even  the  plainest,  such  as  the  one 
represented,  with  the  names  of  the  persons  to  vouch  for 
it,  on  the  railing  at  Barhut  (pi.  VI,  5).  The  king,  who  has 
already  cast  aside  his  diadem,  is  standing,  still  followed  by 
the  queen,  in  front  of  an  armourer's  bench  and  with  the 
two  first  fingers  raised  is  speaking  in  parables.  The  arti- 
zan  is  about  to  straighten  an  arrow  which  he  has  just  put 
through  the  fire,  and,  closing  one  eye,  is  examining  with  the 
other  whether  it  is  straight.  To  a  premeditated  question 
from  Mahajanaka  he  repHes  that  one  can  judge  the  straio-ht- 
ness  of  things  much  better  with  a  single  one  eye  than  with 
two  :  for,  except  in  solitude,  there  is  no  salvation  for  man. 
XX.  This  monkish  moral  is,  however,  susceptible  of  a 
quite  touching  revulsion,  or  rather  of  quite  gracious  over- 
sight. Evidently  it  was  impossible  for  the  compilers  of  this 
great   collection  of  folk-lore  to  bring  all  the  narratives 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  53 

within  their  narrow  range  of  edification  :  and  thus  it  is  that 
a  delightful  story  of  love  must  have  found  grace  in  their 
eyes.    It  is  not  preserved  to  us  at  Barhut,  except  by  a 
miserable  sketch  (Cunningham,  XXVII,  12);  but  it  is  still 
in  existence  on  the  Boro-Budur  of  Java  ('),   where  the 
human    bust  of  the  kinnara  is  no  longer  terminated  by 
foliage,  but  by  the  body  of  a  bird.  The  king  of  Benares, 
while  out   hunting,  perceives  a  couple  of  these  marvel- 
lous beings  covering  each  other  with  caresses  and  tears. 
He  questions  them,  and   learns  from  the  mouth  of  the 
woman  —  always  the  more  talkative  —  that  they  were  once 
separated  by  the  storm  and  had  to   spend   the  night  on 
either  side  of  the  river.  Now  it  will  soon  be  seven  hun- 
dred years  since  this  mischance,  and  their  life  is  a  thou- 
sand  years  :  however,  they  have  not  yet   quite  conso- 
led each  other  for  the  separation  of  a  few  hours,   and 
since  then  have  been  unable  to  help  mingling  tears  with 
their  caresses.  —  What  an  example  for  lovers,  thinks  the 
king ;  and  it  will  not  surprise  you  to  learn  that,  with  the 
help  of  this  simple  legend,  Buddha  forthwith  reconciled 
the  king  and  queen  of  Kosala,  very  much  in  love  with  one 
another,  who  were  sulking (/d^  504;  reject  481  and  485). 


VI 

The  Bodhisattva  and  the  castes.  —  This  last  story  is  less  a 
a  fableau  » than  a  fairy  tale.  As  for  the  preceding  one,  it 
should  rather  be  classed  in  the  category  of  those  «  exam- 
ples -B,  wherewith  our  preaching  friars  of  the  Middle 
Ages  were  accustomed  to  stud  their  sermons.  The  five  that 
still  remain  to  be  reviewed  are  all  edifying  stories  which 


(i)  See  below,  Essay  VIII. 


54  JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT 

similarly  served  the  needs  of  the  Buddhist  preaching.  They 
will  perhaps  seem  to  you  only  moderately  amusing  : 
but  in  India  morality  must  always  have  its  turn.  In  them 
the  Bodhisattva  is  constantly  reborn  in  the  state  of  man, 
that  state  so  difficult  to  attain,  we  are  told,  which,  while 
the  one  most  favourable  of  all  to  the  acquisition  of 
merits,  is  also  the  only  one  in  which  the  candidate  for 
the  Bodhi  ever  has  a  chance  of  attaining  his  object.  Each 
time  this  marvellous  being,  whatever  may  be  his  caste, 
astonishes  us  with  the  proofs  of  his  skill,  wisdom  and 
disinterestedness  :  but  it  is  especially  in  his  royal  births 
that  he  gives  free  course  to  his  virtue.  Let  us  not  forget 
that  the  Buddhists  professed  to  place  the  class  of  the  Ksha- 
triya,  or,  as  we  should  say,  the  nobihty  of  the  sword,  to 
which  their  Master  belonged,  above  that  of  the  Brahmans  : 
naturally,  we  shall  have  to  follow  the  order  established  by 
them  in  the  hierarchy  of  the  castes. 

XXI.  The  Bodhisattva  knew  all  social  positions,  even 
that  which  consists  in  being  under  the  ban  of  society, 
as  is  the  case  with  the  pariah.  However,  in  the  lowest  posi- 
tion in  which  we  recognise  him  on  the  bas-reliefs  of 
Barhut,  he  has  already  arrived  at  the  third  class,  that  of  the 
Vai^yas,  that  is  to  say,  of  peasant  proprietor  or  town  shop- 
keeper. It  is  as  a  son  of  a  citizen  of  gravasti  that  by  an 
ingenious  stratagem  he  consoles  his  father,  who  was  still 
inconsolable  tor  the  death  of  his  grandfather  Qdt.  352;  Cun- 
ningham, XL VII,  3).  He  brings  water  and  food  to  the  dead 
body  of  an  ox,  abandoned  at  the  gates  of  the  town ;  and 
when  his  father,  informed  by  friends,  runs  up  to  remons- 
trate with  him,  he  answers  him  in  the  same  tone  and  has 
not  much  trouble  in  proving  to  him  that  the  more  foolish 
of  the  two  is  not  the  one  whom  people  think.  For  it  is 
folly,  according  to  Buddhist  ideas,  to  weep  for  the  dead. 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  55 

XXII.  Elsewhere  the  Bodhisattva  has  become  the  Pandit 
Vidhura,  minister  of  the  king  of  Indraprastha.  The  fame 
of  his  wisdom  and  eloquence  is  so  great,  that  the  wife  of  a 
Naga  conceives  a  fancy  for  hearing  him  speak.  In  order  to 
make  more  sure  of  him  being  brought  to  her,  the  undine 
pretends  to  have  a  «  desire  »,  that  of  eating  his  heart.  Behold 
the  husband  much  disturbed  :  «  As  well  ask  for  the  moon  », 
he  remarks  Qdt.  545).  But  what  is  there  that  women 
cannot  do  ?  The  four  panels  of  one  pillar  are  consecrated 
to  the  description  of  how  the  daughter  of  the  Naga  was  not 
long  in  finding  a  young  captain  of  the  genii,  who,  for  love  of 
her  «  beaux  yeux  »,  charges  himself  with  the  commission; 
how  the  young  gallant  challenges  the  king  of  Indraprastha 
to  play,  and  with  one  cast  of  the  dice  wins  his  minister 
from  him  ;  how  he  vainly  endeavours  to  kill  the  latter  by 
throwing  him  down  from  the  top  of  a  mountain;  and  how, 
in  the  end,  he  decides  to  take  him  alive  to  the  house  of  the 
Naga,  to  the  great  satisfaction  of  his  future  mother-in- 
law,  who  thus  obtains  from  the  mouth  of  the  sage  the  little 
private  lecture  which  she  desired  (Cunningham,  XVIII). 
And,  as  is  always  the  case  with  these  Buddhist  tales,  all  is 
well  that  ends  well. 

XXIII.  But,  as  I  have  told  you,  it  is  especially  when  the 
Bodhisattva  is  born  again  as  a  Kshatriya  that  his  acts  foretell 
the  great  renunciation  of  which  he  is  to  offer  a  perfect 
model  in  the  course  of  his  last  existence.  Once,  at  a  time 
when  human  life  was  exceedingly  long,  he  renounces 
the  throne  and  the  world  from  the  moment  of  the  appear- 
ance of  his  first  white  hair  (JAt.  9).  His  barber  is  ordered 
to  show  it  to  him  as  soon  as  he  perceives  it  :  and  it  is  for 
that  reason  that,  on  pi.  VI,  6,  he  interrupts  the  combing  of 
his  master's  long  hair.  King  Makhad^va,  although  he  still 
has  84.000  years  to  live,  abdicates  at  once  in  favour  of  his 


56  JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT 

son  —  apparently  the  third  person  in  the  scene  —  and 
retires  to  lead  in  his  own  park  of  mango-trees  the  ascetic 
life. 

XXIV.  Another  time  he  does  not  wait  so  long  to  abandon 
his  throne,  and  he  is  still  in  full  youth  when  he  yields  place 
to  his  youngest  brother  (Jdt.  i8i  ;  Mahdvastu,  II,  73).  The 
jealousy  and  suspicions  of  the  latter  soon  force  him  to  go 
into  exile,  and,  thanks  to  his  talent  as  an  archer,  he  earns 
his  living  in  the  service  of  a  neighbouring  king.  The  bas- 
relief  represents  this  Asadisa  at  the  moment  when,  by 
means  of  an  arrow  skilfully  shot,  he  gathers  for  his  master 
a  mango  from  the  very  top  of  a  high  tree  (Cunningham, 
XXVII,  13).  The  continuation  ofthe  story  makes  him  again 
protect  his  ungrateful  brother  against  the  seven  hostile 
princes  who  were  besieging  him,  and  finally  he  enters  —  or 
rather,  according  to  the  Indian  expression,  he  «  departs  » 
—  into  religion. 

XXV.  Once  even  it  is  from  his  earliest  infancy  that  he 
gives  evidence  of  his  resolution  to  know  nothing  of 
this  world,  and  he  feigns  to  be  dumb,  deaf  and  para- 
lyzed (/flL  538).  In  vain  are  many  experiments  tried 
to  prove  him  ;  neither  privations  nor  dehcacies,  nor  toys, 
nor  noises,  nor  lights,  nor  fear,  nor  suffering,  nor  (when 
he  is  nearly  sixteen  years  old)  voluptuous  temptations  can 
draw  from  him  a  gesture,  a  cry,  or  any  sign  whatever  of 
sensibility  or  intelligence.  That  is  why  you  see  him  lying 
so  stiff  in  the  lap  of  his  father,  the  king  of  Benares  (pi.  V,  6). 
The  latter  ends  by  becoming  weary  of  such  a  son,  and 
orders  his  chariot-driver  to  take  him  out  of  the  town  and 
bury  him,  dead  or  alive.  Thus,  at  the  bottom,  we  see  Prince 
Semiya  standing  near  an  empty  quadriga,  whilst  on  the 
right  the  driver  is  busy  with  a  hoe,  hollowing  out  a  grave. 
However,  the  prince  suddenly  decides  to  move  and  speak : 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  57 

but  when  his  father,  informed  by  the  driver,  runs  up  with 
his  suite,  full  of  joy,  it  is  only  to  find  him  already  trans- 
formed by  the  providential  intervention  of  the  king  of  the 
gods  into  an  ascetic,  and  sitting  in  the  shadow  of  the  trees 
of  his  hermitage:  and  this  forms  the  subject  of  the  third 
and  last  episode,  on  the  right  top  border  of  the  medallion. 

The  texts  specify  elsewhere  that  in  this  last  existence  the 
Bodhisattva  had  realised  the  perfection  of  «  determination  » , 
in  the  hfe  of  Vidhura  (XXII)  that  of  «  wisdom  »,  in  that  of 
Mahajanaka  (XIX)  of  «  heroism  »,  in  that  of  the  ascetic 
with  the  lotus  stems  (XV)  of  «  detachment  »,  in  that 
of  the  king  of  the  monkeys  (X)  of  «  truth  »,  in  that  of  the 
stag  (VIII)  and  the  elephant  with  six  tusks  (VI)  of  «  gene- 
rosity » ;  and  we  know  from  a  detached  fragment  that  at 
Barhut  also  was  seen  the  birth  in  which,  under  the  name 
of  Prmce  Vi^vantara,  he  attained  by  the  gift  of  his  goods, 
his  children  and  even  his  wife,  the  acme  of  «  charity  ». 
Thus  we  recognize  on  our  bas-reliefs  some  of  the  most 
celebrated  jdtakas;  and  of  the  ten  cardinal  virtues 
only  «  patience  » ,  «  benevolence  »  and  «  equanimity  »  are 
not  represented  by  name.  Further,  we  must  not  forget 
that  the  researches  of  Cunningham  have  collected  scarcely 
more  than  a  third  of  the  railing  :  the  rest  had  been  carried 
away  and  destroyed  by  neighbouring  villagers,  and  this  van- 
daUsm  justifies  the  precaution,  taken  by  the  English  archaeo- 
logist, of  transporting  all  that  had  survived  to  the  Museum 
at  Calcutta.  Inversely,  it  is  only  right  that  I  should  warn  you 
that  we  are  far  from  having  identified  all  the  bas-rehefs  which 
have  been  exhumed.  We  might  draw  up  another  list,  almost 
as  long,  of  those  which  still  await  (the  greater  number,  but 
not  all,  for  want  of  an  inscription)  a  satisfactory  explana- 
tion. Some  motifs  are  evidently  taken  from  jdtakas  not  to  be 


58  jAtakas  at  barhut 

read  in  the  Pali  collection  :  and  this  is  a  salutary  warning 
to  us  that  the  latter,  considerable  though  it  may  be,  is  far 
from  being  complete.  Besides,  we  might  have  drawn  atten- 
tion in  passing  to  a  number  of  discordances  in  detail,  as 
regards  the  treatment  of  subjects  certainly  identified,  be- 
tween the  prose  part  of  this  collection  and  the  bas-reliefs, 
whilst  we  have  remarked  the  almost  literal  harmony  between 
a  lapidary  inscription  and  the  text  of  one  of  the  versified 
refrains  known  under  the  popular  title  of  gdthd  (').  But 
these  are  remarks  which  are  of  interest  chiefly  to  specialists, 
I  would  mention  only  one  point,  namely,  that  they  autho- 
rize us  to  believe  that  the  sculptors  of  Barhut  worked  not 
in  accordance  with  a  given  text,  as  did  those  of  Boro- 
Budur,  but  according  to  a  living  tradition,  as  it  echoed  in 
their  memory  or  was  transmitted  among  them. 

I  will  add  that  they  worked  also  according  to  nature  : 
you  have  been  enabled  to  judge  for  yourselves  of  their  ho- 
nest care  for  true  detail.  Each  photographic  reproduction  of 
their  works  has  shown  you,  as  through  a  window  opening 
upon  the  past,  the  costumes,  weapons,  tools,  furniture  and 
vehicles  employed  in  India  two  thousand  years  ago ;  and 
thus  in  one  hour  they  have  given  you  through  your  eyes 
more  concrete  ideas  about  that  civilization  than  you  would 
have  been  able  to  acquire  in  a  year's  reading.  But  the  greatest 
service  that  they  have  rendered  us  —  for  from  it  flow  all 
the  others  —  was  when  they  carried  their  foresight  to  the 
point  of  engraving  by  the  side  of  the  majority  of  their  com- 
positions the  titles  of  the  subjects  which  they  had  intended 
to  represent.  What  gratitude  ought  we  not  to  feel  towards 
them  for  that  just  distrust  of  their  own  talent,  so  rare 
among  artists!  It  has  given  us  the  key  to  ancient  Indian 


(i)  See  below  some  remarks  on  the  Saddatiia-jdtaka  (Essay  VII). 


JATAKAS  AT  BARHUT  59 

art.  So  much  modesty,  sincerity  and  conviction,  do  they 
not  go  far  towards  making  up  for  the  lack  of  technical 
skill?  I  am  sure  you  will  not  be  severe  towards  them  in 
this  respect  :  and  if  these  fables,  these  fabliaux  and  mora- 
lities, have  interested  your  eyes  no  less  than  your  ears, 
you  will  thank  not  only  the  narrators  of  them,  but  also 
the  worthy  old  image-makers  of  India. 


PLATES  V-VI 


The  Barhut  sculptures  here  reproduced  are  borrowed,  with  the 
permission  ofthe  Secretary  of  State  for  India,  from  the  beautiful  publi 
cation  of  General  A.  Cunningham,  The  StUpa  of  Bharhut  (London, 
1879). 

PI.  V.         I  (C,  pi.  XXVI,  s)  : 
2  (C,  pi.  XXVII,  9)  : 
»  3  (C,  pi.  XXV,  i)  : 

4  (C,  pi.  XXXIII,  4) 

5  (C,  pi.  XXV,  3)  : 

6  (C.  pi.  XXV,  4): 

PL  VI.        I  (C,  pi.  XLVI,  8)  : 
»  2(C.,pl.XLV,  5): 

>,  3  (C,  pi.  XLVI,  2)  : 

,,  4(C.,pl.  XLVIII,7): 

5(C.,pl.  XLIV,  2): 
„  6(C.,pI.  XLVIII,  2): 


described 

on  p. 

38 

» 

» 

40 

» 

» 

40-41 

» 

» 

41-42 

)» 

» 

50 

» 

» 

56 

» 

)> 

43 

» 

» 

44 

» 

» 

45 

» 

» 

45-46 

» 

)) 

52 

» 

» 

55 

JATAKAS   AT   BARHUT 


PL.  V 


IN   MEDALLIONS 


JATAKAS    AT    BARHUT 


PL.  VI 


«?-.'r:S|nwilET5»Wrw(^riD«r'  CTrar-.'ri^'  f*r> 


ON   THE    RAIL  COPING 


The  Eastern  Gate  of  the  Sanchi  Stupa  <*> 


The  visitor  to  the  Indian  Museum  in  London,  the 
Musee  Guimet  in  Paris,  or  the  Museum  fur  Volkerkunde  in 
BerHn,  cannot  fail  to  notice  among  the  objects  therein 
exhibited  a  monumental  gate  covered  with  bas-reliefs;  but 
there  is  every  chance  in  the  world  that  he  will  confine 
himself  to  casting  a  quick,  heedless  glance  towards  it  in 
passing.  A  reproduction  of  a  remote  Indian  original,  this 
moulding  naturally  cannot  have  any  claim  to  speak  to  our 
European  eyes  or  to  awaken  in  our  minds  the  remem- 
brance of  any  traditional  legend.  But  then  let  us  bring 
before  it  any  native  of  India;  he  will  remain  as  puzzled 
and,  if  he  is  candid,  as  silent  as  we.  Do  not,  however, 
hastily  conclude  from  this  that  these  sculptures  have 
never  had  any  meaning  for  anyone,  because  to-day  their 
compatriots  themselves  no  longer  understand  anything 
about  them.  Only  imagine  a  similar  experiment  to  be 
tried  with  us,  and  that  we  were  set  down,  for  example, 
before  one  of  the  porches  of  the  cathedral  of  Chartres ; 
how  many  would  be  able  to  read  without  preparation 
in  the  magnificent  illustrated  Bible  so  suddenly  opened 
before  them  ?  You  know  that  in  the  eighteenth  century  no 
one  would  have  been  found  capable  of  this  :  and  in  the  nine- 
teenth it  required  a  whole  phalanx  of  patient  investigators 
to  rediscover  the  lost  meaning  of  the  scenes  and  figures 
painted  on  the  windows,  or  carved  under  the  vaults,  by 


(i)  Lecture  at  the  Musde  Guimet,  in  Bibliolheque  de  Vulgarisation  du 
Musee  Guimet,  vol.  XXXIV,  1910. 

5 


62  EASTERN    GATE  OF   SANCHl 

our  image-makers  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  conditions  are 
exactly  the  same  for  this.  Gate  of  Sanchi;  with  time  the 
subject  of  its  bas-reliefs  has  ended  by  becoming,  even  for 
the  descendants  of  those  who  once  built  or  carved  it,  a 
veritable  enigma.  I  invite  you  to  join  me  in  investigating 
its  meaning. 

I  will  add  that,  disagreable  or  not,  this  research  is  a 
kind  of  obligation,  which  we  may  no  longer  with  decency 
shirk.    It    was   in   fact    the  original    building,    and   not 
the   reproduction,  that  just    missed     coming   to   Paris. 
In   1867-8   the    Begum    of    Bhopal    was    instigated    to 
o£Fer  to  the  Emperor  of  the  French  one  of  the  four  great 
gates  of  the  stupa  of  Sanchi,  that  is  to  say,  a  portion  of 
the  most  beautiful,  and  even  of  the  unique  architectural 
whole  that  we  have  retained  from  Ancient  India.  The 
Begum,  indifferent,  desired  nothing  better;  but  the  English 
resident  intervened,  and  this  act  of  vandalism  —  we  are 
all  the  more  ready  after  this  lapse  of  time  to  designate  it  as 
such,  since  the  project  fell   through  —  was  fortunately 
notperpetrated(').  However,  the  Anglo-Indian  government 
understood  that  there  were  there  archaeological  remains 
capable  of  arousing  the  interest  of  artists  and  scholars.  From 
1 869  it  caused  to  be  executed  at  great  cost  several  mouldings 
of  the  eastern  gate,  one  of  the  only  two  which  had  remain- 
ed standing;  and  with   great  Kberality  it  divided  them 
between  London,  Edinburgh,  Dublin,  Berlin,  Paris,  etc. 
The  one  which  fell  to  our  share  had  already  known  some 
vicissitudes,  till  at  last  it  found  an  asylum  —  if  not  a  shel- 
ter —  in  the  courtyard  of  the  Mus^e   Guimet.  On  the 
other  hand,  this  costly  and  somewhat  embarrassing  present 

(i)  See  RoDSSELET,  rinde  des  Rajahs,  pp.  522-25  and  cf.  H.  Cole,  Great 
Buddhiit  Tope  at  Sanchi,  introd.  (Tope  is  the  Anglo-Indian  equivalent  of  the 
Sanskrit  siupd) . 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  63 

has  not  yet  been  made  in  France  the  object  of  any  special 
study.  It  is  this  too  prolonged  neglect  that  we  are  about 
to  endeavour  to  repair. 


I 


The  Great  Sdnchi  Stiipa.— The  numerous  ruins  which  are 
scattered  over  the  environs  of  the  village  of  Sanchi-Kana- 
keda  (in  Sanskrit  Kakanada),  near  to  Bhilsa,  are  situated 
right  in  the  heart  of  Central  India,  on  the  ancient  commer- 
cial highway  between  Pataliputra  (lla/aioepa,    Patna),  the 
capital  of  the  Maurya  emperors,  and  Bharukaccha  (Bapjvavz, 
Bharotch  or  Broach)  by  way  of  Ujjayini  (  'OCVij  Ujjain). 
Sanchi  has  now  become  a  station  of  the  Indian  Midland 
Railway,  and  the  expresses  stop  there  by  request  to  set  down 
a  few  tourists.  But  it  is  doubtless   to  the  abandonment 
of  the  ancient  route  and  to  the  subsequent  thinning  of  the 
population  that  the  ancient  Buddhist  sanctuaries  with  which 
the  rocky  hill  is  crowned  have  owed  their  exceptional  escape 
from  the  fanaticism  of  the  Musalman  invaders  as  well  as  the 
cupidity  of  the  modern  Hindus.  Whilstat  300  kilometres  to 
the  North-East  the  contemporary  and  quite  analogous  stupa 
of  Barhut,  with  which  we  shall  so  often  have  to  compare  it, 
had  been   three  parts   destroyed  by  the  villagers  of  the 
neighbourhood,  who  made  a  business  of  exploiting  it,  the 
principal  monument  at  Sanchi  was  still  in  an  excellent  state 
of  preservation  when  it  was  visited  for  the  first  time,  in 
1818,  by  General  Taylor  and  described  in  181 9  by  Captain 
Fell.  In  compensation,  it  had  much  to  suffer  three  years 
later  from  the  brutal  excavations  inflicted  upon  it,  without 
mercy  for  art  and  without  profit  to  science,  by  some  English 


64  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

amateurs  Q).  From  1881  to  1883  the  Archaeological 
Department  exerted  itself  to  repair  as  well  as  possible  this 
grievous  devastation.  They  closed  up  the  enormous,  gaping 
breach,  which  had  been  made  in  one  third  of  the  central 
dome,  under  pretext  of  ascertaining  whether  it  weresolidor 
hollow;  they  reerected  (placing,  it  is  true,  several  of  the 
lintels  so  as  to  face  backwards  and  overlooking  in  the  debris 
some  fragments  of  the  jambs)  the  southern  and  western 
gates,  the  second  of  which  had  fallen  only  under  the  weight 
of  the  rubbish  thoughtlessly  thrown  upon  it;  finally,  with 
a  zeal  almost  excessive,  they  cleared  the  whole  site,  without 
sparing  a  single  tree.  Fig.  i  in  pi.  VII,  a  kind  of  horseback 
view  taken  from  the  east  in  the  rising  sun ,  will  explain  to  you 
better  than  long  descriptions  the  state  and  general  aspect 
of  the  building  Q. 

Like  every  old  stupa,  it  is  composed  essentially  of  a 
massive  hemispherical  dome,  raised  upon  a  pediment 
likewise  circular,  which  was  reached  by  a  flight  of  steps. 
The  whole  was  made  of  bricks  covered  with  a  stone 
facing,  which  in  its  turn  was  overlaid  with  a  thick  layer 
of  mortar,  still  existing  in  places.  The  terrace,  in  this  case 
4^,25  high  and  1^,70  wide,  served  evidently  as  a  promen- 
ade for  the  perambulations  of  the  faithful.  The  dome  — 
a  kind  of  giant  reliquary,  though  in  the  particular  case 
the  deposit  of  rehcs  has  never  been  discovered  —  measures 
1 2™,  80  in  height,  with  a  diameter  of  3  2"^,  30.  The  only 
element  to-day  lacking  to  this  developed  tumulus  is  the 
architectural  motif  which  served  as  a  crown  :  but  in  thought 


(i)  On  all  these  points,  see  the  Journal  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Bengal,  III, 
1834,  p.  489,  and  IV,  1835,  p.  712. 

(2)  I  owe  the  communication  of  this  photograph  and  the  following  ones 
to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Marshall,  the  distinguished  Director  General 
of  Arch£eology  in  India. 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  65 

it  is  easy  to  complete  the  whole  by  the  aid  of  the  bas-reliefs 
(see  pi.  VII.  2).  They  frequently  reproduce  the  character- 
istic silhouette  of  this  pinnacle,  with  the  honorific 
parasol  surmounting  it,  which  must  have  raised  the  total 
height  to  about  25  metres. 

According  to  the  invariable  custom  in  India  this 
sanctuary  is  surrounded  by  a  stone  railing,  which  protec- 
ted It  from  profanation,  and  which,  in  spite  of  its  massive 
weight,  is  evidently  an  imitation  of  a  wooden  fence.  In 
form  slightly  oblong,  it  measures  across  from  east  to  west 
43'", 60,  and  from  north  to  south  i"  10  more,  in  order 
to  leave  room  for  the  flight  of  steps.  In  the  uprights, 
3™,  10  high,  were  fixed  with  mortises  and  tenons  three 
cross-bars  and  one  coping,  the  latter  o™, 68  high.  Atthefour 
cardinal  points  an  opening  was  arranged  in  such  a  way  that 
the  breach  was  not  apparent  to  the  eye,  masked  as  it  was  in 
each  case  by  a  double  elbow  in  the  enclosure.  When 
it  was  thought  to  add  fronting  doors  to  these  slanting 
entrances,  it  was  necessary  to  attach  the  right  jamb  of  each 
of  these  latter  to  the  raifing  by  a  joint  at  right  angles  : 
in  this  way  were  formed  four  rectangular  vestibules,  shut 
in  at  the  sides,  and  with  the  front  and  back  faces  corres- 
ponding alternately  as  regards  rail  and  opening. 

These  four  gates,  or  toranas,  of  almost  unvarying  dimen- 
sions and  arrangements,  are  likewise  the  work  of  carpenters 
rather  than  of  masons;  and  it  is  even  surprising  that  they 
should  have  had  the  boldness  to  execute  them  in  stone. 
They  rest  on  two  square  pillars,  o™,68  broad,  4  metres  in 
height,  with  an  interval  of  2'^",i5.  These  two  jambs  are 
surmounted  by  two  great  capitals,  i"S2  5  in  height  and 
decorated  in  one  case  with  dwarfs,  in  another  with  lions, 
and  in  two  with  elephants.  These  latter  in  their  turn 
support  no  less  than  three  lintels  slightly  curved,  projecting 


66  EASTERN    GATE  OF   SANCHl 

on  the  two  sides,  these  lateral  projections  becoming  smaller 
and  smaller,  doubtless  in  order  to  accentuate  the  impres- 
sion of  height  in  the  whole  (cf.  pi.  VIII,  i).  The  entire 
construction  attains  a  height  of  about  lo  metres,  without 
reckoning  the  mystic  symbols  at  the  summit.  Caryatides 
of  a  fairly  successful  outline  connect  the  outer  side  of  the 
capitals  with  the  first  architrave;  other  figures  of  men, 
women,  horses  with  their  riders,  elephants  with  their 
drivers  formerly  adorned  the  spaces  of  the  blocks  which 
separate  the  lintels.  It  should  be  remarked  at  once  that 
these  statues  are  almost  the  only  pieces  of  sculpture 
finished  in  full  relief  that  ancient  India  has  bequeathed  to 
us;  most  frequently  the  images  even  of  divinities,  such  as 
those  which  here  decorate  the  bases  of  the  uprights,  were 
not  entirely  detached  from  the  stone  whence  the  artists' 
chisel  had  elicited  them.  Then  again,  lintels,  coins  and 
jambs  have  all  their  visible  faces  covered  with  bas-reliefs. 
The  question  is  to  discover  what  these  sculptures  repre- 
sent. 

II 

Means  of  Identification.  — At  first  sight  the  problem  seems 
to  be  susceptible  of  the  most  simple  solution.  In  fact  one 
sees  almost  everywhere  graffiti,  deeply  incised  in  the  ancient 
Indian  alphabet,  which,  like  ours,  reads  from  left  to  right; 
it  seems  then  that  we  have  only  to  come  close  and  decipher 
them .  But,  in  proportion  as  we  advance  in  this  task,  our  hope 
of  finding  the  kind  of  information  which  we  are  seeking 
diminishes.  All  that  we  can  learn  from  each  of  the  circa  375 
inscriptions   cut   in  the  railing  and   in   the  gates  (')  is 

(i)  These  inscriptions  have  last   been  studied  by  G.  Buhler   in  Epi'- 
graphia Indica,  vol   II,  pp.  87  sqq.  ;  366  sqq. 


EASTERN  GATE   OF  SANCHl  67 

that  a  certain  individual  or  a  certain  guild  made  a  gift  of 
such  and  such  an  upright  or  cross-bar,  in  short,  of  the  piece 
on  which,  precisely  in  order  that  no  one  might  be  ignorant 
of  the  fact,  they  have  taken  care  to  have  their  names  inscrib- 
ed. As  a  type  we  may  take  the  one  displayed  right  in  the 
middle  of  the  facade  of  the  left  jamb  of  the  eastern  gate ;  it 
tells  us  simply  : 

Korarasa  Ndgapiyasa  Jcchdvadesethisa  ddnam  thabo  :  «  (This) 
«  pillar  (is  the)  gift  of  the  banker  of  Acchavada,  Nagapiya, 
(c  a  native  of  Kurara  ». 

Certainly  these  indications  are  far  from  being  entirely 
devoid  of  interest.  First  of  all,  they  tell  us  that,  if  not  the 
monument  itself,  at  least  its  enclosure  was  built  by  public 
subscription,  whh  special  approprintion  of  the  contribu- 
tions, as  in  certain  modern  religious  foundations.  Moreo- 
ver these   votive  and    somewhat  ostentatious   epigraphs 
enlighten  us  indirectly  on  many  points  —  for  example,  as 
regards  the  social  condition  of  the  individual  subscribers, 
who  nearly   all  belong  to    the  middle   class,  merchants 
and  bankers,  the  class  from  which  the  Buddhist  laity  were 
most  freely  recruited;  or  again,  concerning  the  details  of  the 
artistic  execution,  as  when  one  of  the  jambs  of  the  southern 
gate  is  given  us  as  an  offering  in  kind,  the  chef-d'oeuvre, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  ex-voto,  of  the  carvers  in  ivory 
of  the  neighbouring  town  of  Vidi^a;  or  lastly,  concerning 
the  date  of  the  sculptures,  which  the  incidental  mention 
on  this  same  gate  of  the  reigning  king  Satakani  allows  us 
to    connect  with   the   second,    or  first,   century  before 
the  Christian  era.  But,  as  regards  the  subject  of  the  scenes 
represented,  the  inscriptions  and  their  engravers  are  aggra- 
vatingly  silent.  Evidently  the  sculptors  of  Sanchi,  as  a 
means  ofensuring  at  all  periods  the  comprehension  of  their 
work,  counted  on  their  artistic  talent  as  illustrators;  wherein 


68  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

they  showed  themselves  much  less  far-seeing  and  less  mo- 
dest than  their  confreres  who  had  just  decorated  the  balus- 
trade of  Barhut,  and  who  had|  not  considered  it  futile  to 
engrave  on  the  stone  the  titles  of  their  bas-reliefs. 

It  is  as  well  to  state  at  once  that  an  analogy  with  a  later 
and  well-known  motif,  a  characteristic  detail  awakening 
the  remembrance  of  a  text,  a  determinate  number  of  objects 
forming  a  traditional  group,  all  these  helps  and  others 
besides  would,  no  doubt,  in  the  end  have  opened  a  way  to 
the  interpretation  of  some  of  the  Sanchi  panels ;  but  it  is 
doubtful  if  these  isolated  discoveries  would  ever  have  gone 
beyond  the  stage  of  ingenious  hypotheses,  or  have  deserved 
to  be  looked  upon  as  anything  but  jeux  d'esprit.  If  in 
this  matter  we  are  able  to  arrive  at  certainties  of  a  scien- 
tific character,  we  owe  it  to  the  worthy  image-makers 
of  Barhut.  It  is  they  who,  thanks  to  the  perfectly  explicit 
indications  which  they  themselves  have  transmitted  to 
us  on  the  subject  of  their  compositions,  have  furnished 
us  with  a  key  to  ancient  Buddhist  art  (').  In  the  case 
of  Sanchi,  where  we  have  to  explain  a  monument  closely 
connected  in  spirit,  as  in  space  and  time,  with  Barhut,  it 
may  easily  be  conceived  that  these  precious  and  trustwor- 
thy data  will  necessarily  be  our  first  and  constant 
resource.  While  forming  a  fund  of  interpretation  acquired 
in  advance,  they  will  at  the  same  time  furnish  a  firm 
starting  point  for  fresh  research;  for  we  may  expect  that 
one  identification  will  lead  to  another,  and  that  the  panels 
will  mutually  explain  each  other,  were  it  only  by  reason 
of  their  proximity.  On  the  whole,  we  must  not  despair  of 
seeing  the  majority  of  these  pictures  in  stone  come  to  life 
by  degrees  under  an  attentive  gaze;  and,  thanks  to  their 


(i)  See  above,  Essay  II,  p.  29. 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  69 

expressive  mimicry,  they  will  end  by  making,  us  under- 
stand the  message  which  it  was  their  mission  to  transmit  to 
posterity . 

Ill 

^  Decorations,  images  and  symbols.  —  If  we  approach  in  a  prac- 
tical manner  the  task  thus  defined,  it  will  immediately 
appear  to  us  that  we  could  not  have  entirely  dispensed 
with  the  information,  or  the  confirmations,  furnished  by 
the  written  evidence  of  Barhut,  except  so  far  as 
concerns  the  purely  decorative  bas-reliefs.  It  is  a  matter 
of  course  that  the  natural  intelligence  is  always  and  every- 
where sufficient  to  understand  the  sense  and  appreciate  the 
aesthetic  value  of  motifs  designed  solely  for  the  pleasure 
of  the  eyes.  Nothing  is  more  simple  than  to  classify  these 
ornaments  into  different  categories,  according  as  they 
are  borrowed  from  the  fauna,  flora,  or  the  architec- 
ture, either  local  or  foreign.  Our  archaeological  knowledge 
will  not  need  to  be  very  extensive  in  order  to  enable  us 
to  recognize  the  Iranian  origin  of  a  certain  number  of  them, 
lions  or  winged  griffins,  bell-shaped  capitals  surmounted 
by  two  animals  set  back  to  back,  honey-suckle  palmettes, 
merlons,  serrated  ornamentation,  etc.  We  shall  find,  on 
the  contrary,  a  smack  of  the  Indian  soil  in  the  balustrade 
ornaments,  in  the  horse-shoe  arches,  in  the  garlands  of 
lotuses,  or  even  in  the  elephants  so  ingeniously  sketched 
according  to  nature.  But  neither  these  identifications,  which 
are  within  the  reach  of  children,  nor  those  more  learned 
distinctions  tell  us  anything  whatever  concerning  the 
scenes  any  more  than  concerning  the  idols  to  which  after 
all  these  decorations  only  serve  as  a  framework. 

From  the  first  moment  that  we  find  ourselves  in  the 
presence  of  our  fellow-creatures  the  problem  of  iden- 


70  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

tification  becomes  infinitely  more  complicated.  Even  as  re- 
gards isolated  persons  we  cannot  content  ourselves,  as  in  the 
case  of  animals,  with  a  simple  designation  of  species.  We 
must  at  least  discern  their  real  nature,  whether  human  or 
divine;  next,  try  to  determine  their  social  rank  on  earth  or 
in  heaven ;  then  finally,  if  possible,  assign  a  proper  name 
to  each.  It  is  a  great  deal  to  ask.  Certainly  we  have  very 
little  difficulty  in  recognizing  in  a  frequent  feminine 
figure,  seated  on  a  lotus  and  copiously  doused  by  two 
elephants,  the  prototype  of  the  modern  representations  of 
Qn,  the  Hindu  Goddess  of  Fortune  (').  On  the  other  hand, 
we  should  scarce] v  have  known  what  to  say  concerning 
the  beautiful  ladies  who  connect  the  jamb  with  the  first 
lintel,  if  it  were  not  that  we  find  them  again  on  the  Barhut 
pillars.  They  have  retained,  here  as  there,  in  addition  to 
their  opulent  charms  and  somewhat  scanty  costume,  their 
eminently  plastic  pose,  and  they  continue,  as  is  written, 
« to  bend  their  willow-forms  Hke  a  bow  »  and  «  to  lean, 
holding  a  mango- bough  in  full  flower,  displaying  their 
bosoms  like  golden  jars  »  QBuddhacarita,  II,  52  and  IV, 
35,  trans.  Cowell).  But  there,  in  addition  to  what  we 
have  here,  they  bear  also  a  little  label  which  teaches  us  to 
see  in  them,  instead  of  simple  bayaderes,  divinities,  of  an 
inferior  order,  it  is  true,  belonging  to  those  whom  we 
should  call  «  fairies  ».  At  the  same  time,  in  the  lay  persons 


(i)  See  below,  Catalogue,  §  4  (?.  This  resemblance  does  not  at  all  prove  that 
■we  have  already  to  do  with  the  goddess  ^ri.  The  frequency  of  this  figure  at 
Sanchi,  where  it  recurs  as  many  as  9  times  (see  above,  p.  18,  n.  i),  the 
manner  of  its  juxtaposition  to  the  Bodhi-tree,  the  Wheel  of  the  Law,  and  the 
Stupa  of  the  Parinirvdna  suggest,  on  the  contrary,  that  we  are  dealing 
■with  a  symbolical  representation  of  the  Nativity,  when  the  two  Ndgas 
(here  elephants;  see  below,  p.  109),  simultaneously  bathed  the  mother  and 
the  unseen  child.  Accordingly,  this  scene  should  have  been  cited  and  dis- 
cussed above,  p.  20,  had  we  not  preferred  to  neglect  for  the  moment  s 
hypothesis  still  awaiting  verification. 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  71 

who,  upright  at  the  foot  of  the  jambs,  reveal  to  us  fortheir 
part  the  mascuhne  fashions  of  Central  India  in  the  centu- 
ries immediately  preceding  our  era  (pi.  VIII,  2),  we  learn  to 
recognize  demi-godsand  genii,  guardians  of  the  four  entran- 
ces to  the  sanctuary,  as  also  of  the  four  cardinal  points  (*). 
Elsewhere,  as  we  have  said,  numerical  considerations 
may  sometimes  point  out  the  way  of  interpretation.  Let 
us  take  the  right  (or  north)  jamb  of  the  eastern  gate.  Its 
facade  is  divided  into  panels,  in  each  of  which  a  god,  if  we 
may  judge  by  his  attributes,  is  seen  seated,  like  an  Indian 
king,  in  the  midst  of  his  court.  Each  of  these  compositions 
taken  by  itself  tells  us  absolutely  nothing  :  but,  if  we  set 
aside  for  a  while  the  last  terrace,  we  ascertain  that  there 
are  six  of  these  compartments...  This  number  alone  is  a 
flash  of  hght;  and  Prof.  A.  Griinwedel  needed  nothing 
further  to  lead  him  to  conjecture  with  infinite  probability 
that  here  we  see,  arranged  one  above  another  on  this  pillar, 
the  first  six  stories  of  the  27-storied  paradise  of  Bud- 
dhism, —  the  only  ones,  moreover,  which  belong  to  the 
domain  of  sensual  pleasures  and  consequently  to  that  of 
our  senses.  It  is  with  difficulty  that  we  are  able  to  discern 
also,  on  the  balcony  of  the  highest  terrace,  half-length 
figures  of  the  Gods  in  the  heaven  of  Brahma,  who  belong 
to  already  another  sphere ;  one  step  higher,  the  superior 
divinities,  like  Dante's  souls  in  paradise  who  have  become 
pure  lights,  escape  by  definition  the  scope  of  the  plastic 
arts.  The  identification  justifies  itself,  then,  admirably, 
and  it  is  confirmed  even  by  the  uniformity  and  banahty  of 
the  scenes  :  for  we  know  very  well  that,  if  the  torments 
of  hell  are  usually  very  varied,  there  is,  according  to  the 


(i)  See  below,  Catalogue,  §  i  fc  and  9  fl,  and  ct.   Cdnn(Ngham,  Barhut. 
pi.  XXI-XXIII. 


72  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

representations  which  have  been  attempted,  nothing  more 
monotonous  than  the  happiness  of  the  heavens.  However, 
the  hypothesis  becomes  quite  convincing  only  after  a  com- 
parison with  inscribed  pictures  of  the  paradise  of  the  Thirty- 
three  Gods  at  Barhut  ('). 

One  other  example  is  from  this  point  ot  view  still  more 
characteristic.  On  the  posterior  frontal  of  this  same  gate 
(pi.  VII,  2)  is  figured  a  row  of  vacant  thrones  under  trees, 
between  human  and  divine  worshippers.  They  were  coun- 
ted. There  are  seven  of  them  :  and  thereupon  an  expert 
student  of  Buddhism,  the  Rev.  S.  Beal,  had  not  been  long  in 
rediscovering  in  the  legend  of  the  Master  seven  miraculous 
trees  :  unfortunately  it  would  be  easy  to  enumerate  still 
more  of  them.  The  analogy  of  certain  series  in  Gan- 
dhara  or  at  Ajanta  would  to-day  furnish  a  much  more 
satisfactory  explanation  by  suggesting  that  it  was  a 
symbolical  manner  of  representing  the  seven  traditional 
Buddhas  of  our  aeon,  the  last  being  ^akya-Muni.  But 
you  perceive  that  this  conjecture  would  remain  sus- 
pended literally  in  the  air...  Well,  the  inscribed  bas-reliefs  of 
Barhut  have  made  it  a  certainty.  In  fact,  they  show  us  in 
succession  all  these  same  trees,  of  easily  recognizable 
species,  above  these  same  seats  of  stone,  between  these 
same  worshippers ;  but  in  this  case  each  of  them  bears  as 
on  a  label  the  name  of  the  Buddha  whose  memory  it 
evokes  ;  and  thus  we  can  no  longer  doubt  that  the  intention 
of  the  old  image-makers  was  indeed  to  represent  the 
seven  Enhghtened  Ones  of  the  past  by  the  seven  trees  under 
which  they  sat  in  order  to  attain  to  enlightenment  (^). 

(i)  See  below,  Catalogue,  §  6,  and  cf.  Cunningham,  Barhut,  pi.  XVI,  i, 
and  XVII,  i,  and  Fergusson,  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  pi.  XXX,  i. 

(2)  See  below,  Catalogue,  §  10  b,  and  cf.  Cunningham,  ibid.,  pi.  XXIX- 
XXXand  Fergusson,  ibid.,  pi.  IX  and  Xa  (medial  lintel  of  the  north  gate). 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  73 

You  perceive  already,  and  we  may  resume  in  a  single 
sentence,  the  immediate  consequences  of  this  important 
observation.  Following  always  the  same  trail,  we  shall 
learn  to  recognize  after  the  symbolism  of  the  tree,  which 
betokens  Buddha's  attainment  of  Sambodhi,  that  of  the 
wheel,  which  signifies  his  preaching,  and  finally  that  of  the 
stnpa  or  tumulus,  which  is  the  emblem  of  his  Parinirvdm. 
A  comparison  with  the  stelae  on  which  the  old  school  of 
Amaravati  in  Southern  India  was  pleased  to  group  the 
representations  of  the  «  four  great  miracles  »  will  finally 
settle  our  ideas  on  all  these  points  (').  At  the  same  time 
we  shall  not  only  have  identified  roughly  a  good  half  of  the 
Sanchi  bas-reliefs ;  we  shall  moreover  be  sufficiently  fami- 
liarized with  the  secrets  of  the  studio  to  be  able  to  approach 
with  some  chance  of  success  the  interpretation  of  the 
remainder  of  the  works. 


IV 


The  Legendary  Scenes.  —  Kindly  bethink  yourselves  that 
in  fact  the  Acquisition  of  Omniscience,  the  First  Sermon 
and  the  Final  Decease  are,  with  the  Nativity  or  the  Voca- 
tion, the  four  chief  episodes  of  the  Buddhist  legend. 
Now  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  all  the  scenes  at 
Sanchi  are  dedicated  solely  to  the  illustration  of  this 
legend.  In  their  chronological  order  they  will  be  divided 
naturally  into  three  categories,  according  as  their  sub- 
ject is  borrowed  from  the  previous  lives,  from  the  last 
life,  or  from  times  subsequent  to  the  definitive  death  of 
the  Blessed  One. 


(i)  See  above,  pi.  II. 


74  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

To  begin  with  the  past  rebirths,  it  is  sufficiently  well 
known  that  these  jdtakas,  as  the  Indians  call  them,  are  the 
favourite  subjects  of  the  ancient  sculptors  of  Barhut  (')  : 
and  this  time  also  we  could  not  put  ourselves  to  a 
better  school  to  learn  to  read  these  riddles  in  stone.  For  we 
must  constantly  bear  in  mind  that  all  these  bas-reliefs  are 
what  our  illustrators  call  a  stories  without  words  »  :  only, 
insteadof  depicting  the  successive  episodes  in  a  series  of  dis- 
tinct pictures,  the  oldlndian  masters,  like  those  of  our  Middle 
Ages,  did  not  shrink  from  placing  the  incidents  in  juxta- 
position or  repeating  the  characters  within  one  and  the 
same  panel.  Once  we  are  aware  of  this  procedure, 
it  is  a  mere  pastime  to  explain  their  works  and  to 
follow  the  edifiying  thread  of  the  story  through  the  appar- 
ent disorder  of  the  actors  and  under  the  accumulation  of 
genre  details  wherewith  they  like  to  crowd  the  subject. 
Let  us  add  that  the  pastime  is  all  the  more  attractive 
as,  in  spite  of  certain  failings  in  technical  skill,  we  cannot 
but  admire  the  natural  gifts  of  our  sculptors  ("). 

In  the  scenes  of  the  last  hfe  of  the  Master  we  shall,  of 
course,  find  employed  the  same  method  of  composition.  But 
there  will  be  added  to  it  another  convention,  a  most  unex- 
pected one,  and  one  capable  of  completely  baffling  our 
researches,  were  it  not  that  we  have  already  been  made 
aware  of  it;  or  rather,  to  employ  a  better  expression,  it  is 


(i)  See  above,  Essay  II. 

(2)  We  have  not  noticed  on  the  eastern  gate  any  specimen  oijdtaka  ;  but, 
in  order  that  it  may  not  be  thought  that  they  were  excluded  from  the  reper- 
tory of  Sinchi,  let  us  point  out  those  of  the  elephant  Saddanta  on  the  pos- 
terior face  of  the  middle  lintel  of  the  southern  gate  (Fergdsson,  pi.  VIII), 
of  the  rishi  Eka?:ringa,  recognizable  at  once  by  his  one  frontal  horn,  and  of 
prince  Vi^vantara  on  the  lower  lintel  of  the  northern  gate  (Fergusson, 
pi.  Xl-Xa  and  XXIV,  5),  of  the  Mahakapi  and  vyama  on  the  southern 
jamb  of  the  western  gate  (Fergusson,  pi.  XVIII-XIX  and  XXXIV). 


EASTERN    GATE    OF   SANCHl  75 

not  that  some  element  comes  into  increase  the  pictorial  com- 
plication of  the  scene;  it  is,  on  the  contrary,  something 
which  is  wanting  in  it,  and  that  something  is  nothing  less 
than  the  j&gure  of  the  principal  hero.  In  all  these  illustra- 
tions of  the  biography  of  Buddha  we  shall  find  everything 
that   the  author   desires,  except  Buddha    himself.   It    is 
already  a  good  number  of  years  since  the  inscribed  bas- 
reliefs  of  Barhut,  by  informing  us  that  a  certain  worshipper, 
on  his  knees  before  a  vacant  throne  merely  surmounted 
by  a  parasol  or  marked  by  a  symbol,  is  in  the  act  of  «  ador- 
ing the  Blessed  One  »,  have  placed  beyond  doubt  this 
invariable  and  surprising  abstenance.  The  Sanchi  sculptures, 
which  on  the  whole  are  better  preserved,  tell  us  more  on  this 
point  than  do  the  ruins  of  Barhut,  From  these  latter  we 
already  knew  that  the  ancient  school  of  Central  India  had 
not  at  its  disposal  a  type  of  the  perfect  Buddha  :  the  facade 
of  the  middle  hntel  of  our  eastern  gate,  which  represents  the 
«  Great  Departure  of  the  Bodhisattva  »  (pi.  X,  i),  proves 
to  us,  in  its  turn,  that  it  refrained  no  less  rigorously  from 
figuring  the  Predestined  even  before  the  Sambudhi,  when  it 
would  have  been  so   simple  and  so  easy  to  lend  him 
the  usual  features  of  Vigvantara  or  some  other  «  crown 
prince  ».  We  have  here  a  new  fact  and  one  of  prime  im- 
portance in  the  limitedsphere  of  Buddhist  archaeology.  To 
the  list  of  conventional  representations  of  the  Buddha  by 
a  throne  of  stone,  the  imprint  of  two  feet,  awheel  or  some 
other  emblem,  we   must   now  add  the  no  less   strange 
representation  of  the  Bodhisattva  by  a  horse  without  a  rider 
under  an  honorific  parasol  ('). 


(i)  See  below,  Catalogue,  §  n  a;  cf.  likewise,  Cunningham,  Barhut, 
pi.  XX,  I,  and  Fergusson,  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  Amaravati,  pi.  XCVI, 
3,  etc.  These  are  precisely  the  facts  of  which  we  have  sought  in  our  first 
essay  to  explain  the  origin  and  significance. 


76  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

It  is,  however,  episodes  borrowed  from  the  second  part 
of  the  last  existence  of  the  Master  that  form|the  bulk  of 
the  legendary  scenes  of  Sanchi.  The  native  artists  did  not, 
in  fact,  resign  themselves  to  reproducing  solely  and  always 
the  same  great  miracles,  symbolized  by  the  tree,  the  wheel 
or  the  stupa  :  they  have  fulfilled  their  undertaking  to  illus- 
trate in  detail  the  career  of  Buddha  without  figuring  him-  As 
if  this  prime  difficulty  were  not  enough,  they  imposed  upon 
themselves  a  further  one,  which  has  not  up  to  now  been 
sufficiently  emphasized  ;  we  mean  the  law  to  which  they 
submitted  of  not  bringing  on  to  the  scene  any  among  the 
disciples  but  laymen  or  any  among  the  monks  but  here- 
tics prior  to  their  conversion.  Thus  they  deliberately  pro- 
posed to  make  us  spectators  of  the  Master's  work,  which 
consists  essentially  in  the  foundation  of  a  monastic  order, 
not  only  without  our  seeing  the  founder,  but  even  without 
our  catching  a  glimpse  of  a  single  Buddhist  monk.  When  we 
observe  the  ingenuity  which  they  have  displayed  in  the 
accomplishment  of  this  unpromising  programme,  we  can- 
not too  much  regret  the  narrow  limits  within  which  they 
have  restricted  themselves.  The  eastern  gate,  to  speak  only 
of  this  one,  does  not  Umit  itself  to  showing  us  typical  speci- 
mens of  this  art,  at  once  so  natural  and  so  distorted.  The  pan- 
els of  the  southern  jamb  supply  us  in  addition  with  a  charac- 
teristic example  of  the  manner  in  which,  as  we  have  indica- 
ted, they  explain  by  their  propinquity  each  another.  On 
the  interior  face  (pi.  IX,  i)  Beal  had  already  recognized, 
and  verified  more  or  less  satisfactorily  in  detail,  three  distinct 
phases  of  the  conversion  of  the  thousand  Brahmanic  ancho- 
rites, disciples  of  the  three  brothers  Ka^yapa.  Prof.  Griinwe- 
del  has  included  in  the  same  series  of  wonders  the  picture  of 
the  inundation,  which  occupies  the  centre  of  the  front  face. 
Henceforth  we  believe  it  impossible  not  to  conclude  this 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  77 

series,  in  accordance  with  a  fixed  tradition,  by  recognizing 
in  the  king  just  below,  who  is  leaving  his  capital  to  pay  a 
visit  to  the  Blessed  One,  Bimbisara.  the  famous  sovereign  of 
the  neighbouring  town  ofRaiagriha(Rajgir)  and  thefahhful 
friend  of  the  Master.  There  remains  now  at  the  top  of  this 
same  face  a  representation  of  the  Sambodhi  :  if  we  reflect 
that  the  site  of  this  miracle,  namely  Bodh-Gaya,  is  likewise 
very  near  to  Uruvilva  (Urel),  where  all  the  episodes  of 
the  conversion  of  the  Kacyapas  take  place,  we  shall  be  at 
last  successful  in  penetrating  the  really  very  simple  plan  of 
the  artist  :  whether  on  his  own  initiative,  or  in  conse- 
quence of  the  express  command  of  the  banker  Nagapiya,  his 
intention  was  evidently  to  group  on  the  same  jamb  legen- 
dary events  localized  in  the  same  district  of  the  country  of 
Magadha  ('). 

However  well  the  Indian  school  proper  may  have  been 
served  in  its  ungrateful  entreprise  by  the  monotonous 
character  of  this  perpetual  course  of  visits  and  preaching, 
of  conversions  and  offerings,  which  forms  the  career  of 
Buddha,  it  is  self-evident  that  its  system  of  composition 
accommodated  itself  infinitely  better  to  subjects  subsequent 
to  the  Parinirvdna,  the  only  ones  in  which  the  absence  of 
the  Master's  figure  became  quite  plausible.  If  its  regular 
development  had  not  been  very  soon  interrupted  by  the 
adoption  of  the  Indo-Greek  type  of  Buddha,  which  came 
from  the  north-west  of  India,  it  would  probably  have  been 
led  by  the  natural  course  of  things  to  assign  a  growing 
importance  to  this  sort  of  historical  pictures,  side  by 
side  with  the  pictures  of  piety.  Therefore,  we  do  not  hesi- 


(i)  See  below,  Catalogue,  §  8  et  9;  also  the  interior  face  of  the  nor- 
thern pillar  of  the  same  gate  is  consecrated  to  Kapilavastu  (Cat.  §  7), 
the  front  face  of  the  eastern  pillar  of  the  northern  gate  to  the  Jetavana  of 
Qrivasti  (Fergusson,  pi.  Xand  XI),  etc. 

6 


78  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

tate  to  recognize  at  once  a  few  attempts  of  this  kind  at 
Sanchi,  notably  among  the  bas-reliefs  which  are  freely  dis- 
played over  the  whole  width  of  the  lintels.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  state  that  these  scenes  are  not  less  legendary  in 
fact,  or  less  edifying  in  intention,  than  the  others.  We  shall 
recall,  first  of  all,  on  the  southern  gate  that  vivid  represen- 
tation of  the  famous  war  of  the  relics,  which  by  an  ironical 
return  of  the  things  of  this  world  came  near  to  being  preci- 
pitated by  the  death  of  the  Apostle  of  Benevolence.  We 
know  that  fortunately  it  was  averted  ('):  the  «  Seven  before 
Ku^inagara  »  at  last  obtained  from  the  inhabitants  of  the 
town  a  portion  of  the  ashes  of  the  Blessed  One;  and  each  of 
these  eight  co-sharers,  keeping  his  portion  or  carrying  it  in 
triumph  to  his  native  land,  built  a  stupa  in  its  honour.  It 
was  these  eight  original  deposits  —  or  rather  seven  of 
them  —  that  towards  the  middle  of  the  third  century  B.  C. 
the  famous  Acoka,  piously  sacrilegious,  violated,  with 
the  sole  aim  of  distributing  their  contents  among  the  innum- 
erable Buddhist  sanctuaries  which  were  then  beginning  to 
be  scattered  all  over  India.  As  to  the  eighth,  that  of  Rama- 
grama,  it  seems  to  have  been  already  lost  in  the  jungle  ; 
and  a  well-known  tradition  (although  not  known  to  be 
so  ancient)  will  have  it  that  in  regard  thereto  the  royal 
pilgrim  was  confronted  by  the  courteous,  but  definite  refusal 
of  the  Nagas,  who  were  its  guardians.  Now  such,  surely,  is 
the  spectacle  offered  to  us,  a  century  after  the  event,  by  the 


(i)  See  Fergusson,  pi.  VII  et  XXXVIII  (and  comp.  western  gate,  iMd.. 
pi.  XVIII  et  XXXVIII,  2)  :  this  scene  was  originally  carved  on  the  face  of 
the  lower  lintel,  and  such  is  indeed  the  position  assigned  to  it  by  the  drawino- 
of  Cole,  reproduced  by  Frrgusson  ;  but  in  the  restoration  this  lintel  a  nd  the 
higher  one  were  replaced  back  to  front.  —  It  was  the  same  with  the  three 
lintels  of  the  western  gate  :  on  the  other  hand  Cole  had  in  his  drawing 
inverted  the  order  of  the  first  and  the  third. 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  79 

central  lintel  of  this  very  southern  gate  (').  A  hundred 
years  are  amply  sufficient,  especially  in  India,  to  create  a 
complete  cycle  of  legends.  Reflect,  on  the  other  hand,  that  at 
a  few  paces  from  the  future  site  of  the  gate  A?oka  had 
already  caused  his  famous  «  edicts  »  to  be  engraved  upon  a 
column.  According  to  all  probability  the  erection  of  this 
column  was  contemporary  with  the  building  of  the  stupa, 
which  may  very  well  be  one  of  the  «  84.000  »  reli- 
gious foundations  ascribed  to  the  devout  emperor.  Finally, 
we  have  reasons  for  thinking  that  the  latter  had  remain- 
ed a  kind  of  local  hero  in  the  district  :  at  least  it  is  in 
the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  Sanchi  that  the  Mahd- 
vamsa  places  the  romance  of  his  youth  with  the  beautiful 
daughter  of  a  rich  citizen  of  Besnagar.  All  this  may  help 
us  to  understand  that  two  other  pseudo-historic  scenes 
on  our  eastern  gate  may  in  the  same  way  be  borrowed 
from  his  cycle.  The  one  on  the  reverse  side  of  the  lower 
lintel  (pi.  VII,  2)  must  have  some  connection  with  the 
Ramagrama  stupa,  if  it  is  not  simply  another  version  of 
the  legend  which  we  have  just  cited.  As  for  the  other  on 
the  front  of  the  same  block,  we  cannot  help  believing  that 
the  solemn  procession  to  the  Bodhi  tree  (pi.  X,  2)  is  the 
figured  echo,  if  it  is  not  the  direct  illustration,  of  a  passage 
in  the  Agokavaddna  Q^. 


If  at  the  point  at  which  we  have  now  arrived  we  cast  a 
general  glance  over  the  gate  which  is  the  particular  object  of 


(i)  F:6rgusson,  pi.  VII;  for  the  tradition  compare  Divyavadana,  p.  380; 
Fa-hian,  ch.  xxin,  and  Hiuan-tsang,  xi,  3''  Kingdom. 

(2)  See  below,  Catalogue,  %  12  a  and  h,  and  cf.  Divyavadana,  p.  397 
and  sqq. 


8o  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANChI 

our  studies,  we  shall  be  as  surprised  as  any  one  to  observe 
that  we  are  beginning  to  understand  its  mute  language. 
There  is  now  scarcely  apart  of  it  whose  meaning  or  inten- 
tion escapes  us,  from  the  genii  which  mount  guard  at  the 
foot  to  the  Buddhist  symbols  which  decorate  the  summit. 
We  may,  therefore,  consider  that  we  have  accomplished 
the  bulk  of  our  task,  and  I  shall  confine  myself  in  conclu- 
sion to  endeavouring  to  unite  your  impressions  :  this  will 
be  the  best  way  of  summing  up  the  various  kinds  of  interest 
which  these  sculptures  may  present. 

The  keenest  is  to  be  found,  perhaps  —  at  least  for  those 
among  us  who  have  a  taste  for  antiquity  —  in  the  very 
expressive  and  complete  picture  that  they  give  us  of  the 
ancient  civilization  of  India.  Architecture  both  urban  and 
rural,  furniture,  tools,  weapons,  instruments  of  music, 
standards,  chariots,  harness  for  horses  and  for  elephants, 
costumes  and  ornaments  for  men  and  women  etc.,  all  these 
concrete  and  precise  details  merely  await  to  be  detached  by 
a  draughtsman,  in  order  to  serve  as  authentic  illustrations 
to  a  future  Dictionary  of  Indian  antiquities.  And  side  by 
side  with  this  information,  which  is  purely  material,  but  in 
itself  so  precious,  how  much  more  may  we  gather  concer- 
ning even  the  life  of  the  courts,  towns  and  hermitages,  if 
we  glance  successively  at  these  anchorites,  so  busy  around 
their  sacrificial  fires  (cf.  further  on,  page  98) ;  these  women 
who  attend  to  their  domestic  occupations  (page  95) ;  these 
kings  seated  in  their  palaces  or  proceeding  with  great  pomp 
through  the  streets  of  their  capitals,  before  the  curious 
eyes  of  their  subjects  (pp.  91  and  93),  etc.  What  is  to  be 
said  then  of  the  no  less  important  information  which  these 
sculptures  furnish  concerning  the  external  forms  of  worship 
and  even  of  the  beliefs,  the  features  worn  in  popular  imagi- 
nation by  genii  and  fairies,  as  also  concerning  the  manner 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  S^.NCHi  8 1 

in  which  the  reHgious  conscience  of  the  time  conceived  the 
written  tradition  of  Buddhism! 

But  these  are  questions  reserved  for  speciahsts,  and, 
doubtless,  many  of  you  are  more  concerned  for  the  aesthe- 
tic value,  than  for  the  documentary  interest,  of  these  old 
monuments.  From  this  point  of  view  you  cannot  have 
failed  to  appreciate  the  perfect  naturalness  of  the  artists  who 
worked  at  them,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  praise  above  all 
the  justness  of  their  observation  —  so  remarkable  espec- 
ially in  their  animals  and  trees  —  and  the  freedom  of  their 
execution,  in  spite  of  a  certain  clumsiness  and  a  very  par- 
donable ignorance  oiour  perspective.  You  divine  also  what 
a  delicate  problem  is  raised  as  to  the  determination  of  the 
exact  place  of  their  works  in  the  general  history  of  art.  I  do 
not  think  that  anyone  can  reasonably  contest  the  statement 
that  this  school  ofBarhut  and  of  Sanchi  is  a  direct  expres- 
sion of  Indian  genius,  with  all  the  spontaneousness  and 
conventionality  to  be  found  in  either.  And  in  making  this 
statement  I  am  not  thinking  only  of  fundamentals,  of  the 
thoroughly  indigenous  character  of  the  subjects  which  the 
art  proposed  to  treat :  even  as  regards  its  specially  technical 
proceedings,  that  extremely  deeply  incised  rehef,  that  cons- 
tant search  tor  swarming  effects,  that  systematic  over- 
crowding of  the  whole  available  space  in  the  panel  by  acces- 
sory details,  it  is  in  the  hereditary  habits  of  the  wood  and 
ivory  carvers  of  ancient  India,  not  forgetting  its  gold- 
smiths, that  I  should  seek  their  origin.  But,  if  ancient 
Buddhist  art  is  thus  attached  by  all  its  roots  to  its  native 
soil,  we  should  have  to  be  wilfully  blind  not  to  see  the 
foreign  shoots  which  have  already  ingrafted  themselves  on 
this  wild  stock.  A  quantity  of  decorative  motives  have 
appeared  to  us  so  directly  borrowed  from  Persia  that  their 
importation  can  scarcely  be  explained  otherwise  than  by 


82  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHi 

an  immigration  of  Iranian  artisans.  But  this  is  not  all  : 
here  and  there,  in  bold  foreshortenings,  in  the  skilful  plac- 
ing of  three-quarter  length  figures,  in  the  harmonious 
balancing  of  groups  —  in  a  word,  in  the  detail  of  the  work- 
ing process,  as  also  in  the  general  arrangement  of  the  com- 
position —  we  detect  growing  traces  of  an  influence  more 
subtle  and  more  difficult  to  disentangle,  but  incomparably- 
more  artistic,  which  in  fact  had  by  the  vicissitudes  of  poli- 
tical history  been  brought  much  nearer,  the  influence  of 
Hellenistic  models.  Moreover,  we  now  know  from  a  reliable 
source  that  this  influence  had  already  penetrated  as  far 
as  there ;  and  the  native  artists  of  Vidiga  could  see  quite 
close  to  their  town  the  column  which  had  been  raised  on 
behalf  of  a  local  rajah  in  the  reign  of  the  Indo-Greek 
king  Antialkidas  (about  175  B.  C.)  by  the  envoy  Helio- 
doros,  son  of  Dion,  a  native  of  Taxila  ('). 

But,  if  these  bas-rehefs  have  deserved  to  hold  your  atten- 
tion for  an  instant,  it  is  not  solely  for  what  they  teach  us 
or  inspire  us  with  a  desire  to  know  of  the  civilization  and 
art  of  India  :  it  is  also  and  especially  for  the  curious  com- 
parisons with  our  own  religious  art  to  which  they  lend 
themselves.  You  have  surely  observed  among  them  an 
employment  of  symbols,  in  every  way  analogous  to  that 
exhibited  by  the  first  Christian  artists  of  the  Catacombs  at  a 
time  when  they  also  had  not  at  their  disposal  an  universally 
accepted  image  of  the  Saviour.  The  parallelism  of  the  two 
developments  might  be  pursued  still  further :  and  later  on, 
when  in  both  cases  the  type  of  the  Master  had  been  defini- 
tely fixed,  it  would  be  no  less  easy  to  find  in  Buddhist  tra- 
dition written  evidence  of  the  tendency,  so  well  known  to 


(i)  The  quite  recent  discovery  ot  this  inscribed  pillar  is  due  to    Mr.  J. 
H.  Marshall,  J.  R.  A.  S.  1909,  p.  1053. 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  83 

US,  to  authenticcite  the  resemblance,  as  if  it  were  a  question 
of  a  portrait  made  from  a  living  model.  Another  feature 
which  you  must  also  have  noticed  in  passing  is  the  narra- 
tive character  of  the  bas-reliefs,  forthwith  employed  to 
relate  edifying  stories;  and  it  will  not  have  escaped  you 
either  that  we  find  again  on  the  altar  screens  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  even  on  certain  panels  of  the  first  Renaissance 
—  for  example  on  those  with  which  Ghiberti  decorated  the 
doors  of  the  Baptistery  at  Florence  —  the  same  procedures 
of  juxtaposition  ot  episodes  and  repetition  of  persons  which 
were  already  in  use  at  Bjirhut  and  at  Sanchi.  Thus  these  old 
monuments,  in  exchange  for  the  trouble  which  we  have 
taken  to  become  familiar  with  them,  offer  us  ample  mate- 
rial for  comparisons  of  an  interest  more  general  and  more 
closely  connected  with  us  than  we  could  have  expected.  It  is 
of  this  that  I  wished  in  conclusion  to  remind  you  as  a  com- 
pensation for  the  perhaps  rather  too  technical  subject 
which  circumstances,  as  told  in  our  preamble,  have  im- 
posed upon  us. 

SECOND  PART 

SUMMARY  CATALOGUE  OF  THE  SCULPTURES 

[We  have  not  deemed  it  necessary  to  encumber  this 
short  notice  with  a  detailed  account  of  the  more  or  less  suc- 
cessful attempts  which  have  already  been  made  whh  a  view 
to  the  interpretation  of  the  sculptures  of  Sanchi.  The  princi- 
pal publication  treating  of  them,  after  the  first  essay  of 
Cunningham,  The  Bhilsa  Topes  (London,  1854),  is  that  of 
Fergusson,  Tree  and  Serpent- Worship  (2^  ed.,  London,  1873 , 
reproducing  the  identifications  proposed  by  Beal,  Journ. 
of  the  Roy.  As.  Soc.new  series.  V,  1871,  pp.  164  and  sqq.)  : 


84  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

but  the  photographs,  ahhough  annotated  by  numerous 
drawings,  are  almost  unusable,  because  their  scale  has 
been  too  much  reduced,  and  the  text,  ruined  by  strange 
theories,  has  lost  nearly  all  value.  The  same  remarks  apply 
to  the  photographs  of  Sir  Lepel  Griffin,  Famous  Monuments 
of  Central  India,  and  of  H.  Cole,  Preservation  of  National 
Monuments,  India  :  Great  Buddhist  Tope  atSdnchi  (1885),  and 
to  the  text  of  F-  C  Maisey,  Sdnchi  and  its  remains  (Lon- 
don, 1892).  Fortunately  the  moulding  of  the  eastern  gate, 
given  to  the  «  Museum  fiir  Volkerkunde  »  in  Berlin, 
attracted  in  a  very  special  manner  the  attention  of  Profes- 
sor Griinwedel  in  Chapter  V  of  his  celebrated  Handhuch 
{Euddhistische  Kunst  inlndien,  2^  ed.,  Berlin,  1900;  revised 
and  enlarged  by  Dr.  J.  Burgess,  Buddhist  Art  in  India,  Lon- 
don, 1902,  particularly  pp.  72-74).  We  are  in  perfect 
agreement  with  the  eminent  archaeologists  of  Edinburgh 
and  Berlin  as  regards  the  method  to  be  followed  :  at  the 
same  time,  we  must  warn  the  reader  once  for  all  that  on 
several  points  we  have  arrived  at  conclusions  somewhat 
different  from  theirs.  If  this  treatise  marks  any  progress 
whatever  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Sanchi  bas-reliefs,  it 
is  entirely  due  to  the  excellent  direct  photographs  which 
Mr.  J.  H.  Marshall  has  put  at  our  disposal.] 

The  sculptures  which  cover  from  top  to  bottom  the  eas- 
tern gate  of  the  stiipa  of  Sanchi  may  be  divided  into  two 
great  categories,  the  decorative  elements  and  the  Buddhist 
scenes.  In  reality  the  line  of  demarcation  between  these 
two  orders  of  subjects  is  at  times  very  difficult  to  trace. 
Many  of  the  so-called  ornaments  have  a  traditional  symbo- 
lical value,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  a  great  number  of  the 
edifying  representations  tend  to  pure  decoration.  The 
distinction  is  justified,  however,  in  practice.  We  shall 
avoid  many  useless  repetitions,  if  we  decide  to  classify 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  85 

in  the  first  category  all  those  motifs  whose  character, 
being  before  all  ornamental,  is  sufficiently  emphasized  by 
the  fact  that  they  are  symmetrically  repeated  on  the  beams 
or  the  uprights  of  the  stone  scaffolding  which  constitutes 
the  torana  (cf.  above,  pp.  65-6). 

THE    DECORATIVE    ELEMENTS 

§  I.  Decoration  of  the  jambs.  —  Thus  itisthatthe  two  jambs 
of  the  gate,  that  of  the  north  and  that  of  the  south,  —  or 
more  simply,  of  the  right  and  left  as  you  enter,  —  bear  on 
two  of  their  faces  motifs  which  are  evidently  complemen- 
tary. 

a)  Their  o«/er  face  is  simply  decorated  with  those  pink 
lotus  flowers  {padma  or  nelumbum  speciosuni),  which,  as  we 
know,  play  a  considerable  part  in  Indian  ornamentation 
and  symbolism.  To  the  right  a  series  of  full-blown  roses 
is  enclosed  within  two  waved  garlands  of  these  same  flow- 
ers, graced  with  buds  and  leaves.  To  the  left  the  principal 
subject  consists  of  a  similar  garland,  whose  decoration 
changes  likewise  between  each  undulation  of  the  chief 
branch  :  in  addition  Indian  swans  (hanisa')  and  a  tortoise 
are  intermingled  whh  the  flowers. 

b)  In  the  two  male  figures  placed  opposite  each  other  at 
the  foot  of  the  inner  face  oi  the  two  jambs  we  must,  from 
analogy  with  Barhut,  recognize  the  protecting  spirits  of 
the  eastern  region,  that  is,  the  Gandharvas  or  celestial 
musicians,  the  chief  of  whom  is  Dhritarashtra  (cf.  above, 
p.  71).  Nevertheless,  they  are  presented  simply  under  the 
appearance  of  great  Indian  lords,  wearing  turbans  and 
adorned  with  heavy  jewels,  earrings,  necklaces  and  bracelets 
of  precious  stones.  The  ends  of  their  long  loin-cloths  hang 
in  close  little  pleats  in  front;  as  for  the  second  part  of  their 
costume,  the  scarf,  whose  usual  function  is  to  drape  the 


86  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

body,  they  wear  it  negligently  tied  round  their  loins. 
The  one  holds  up  the  ends  of  it  with  his  left  hand, 
whilst  the  other  has  placed  his  awkwardly  on  his  hip  (see 
pi.  VIII,  2).  The  latter  holds  in  his  right  hand  a  Bignonia 
flower,  while  the  former  has  a  lotus.  Both  are  looking  in 
the  direction  of  the  sanctuary,  and  are  leaning  against  a 
background  formed  of  a  Bignonia  in  blossom  and  a  mango- 
tree  bearing  fruit. 

§  2.  Capitals.  —  The  great  capitals  which  surmount  the 
two  jambs  of  the  eastern  gate  are  decorated  with  tame  ele- 
phants (pi.  VIII,  i).  Four  of  these  animals  are  placed  very 
ingeniously  about  each  pillar  in  such  a  way  that  their  heads 
form  a  round  embossement  to  the  four  edges  of  the  corners. 
Their  harness  consists  of  a  rich  head-stall  (from  which 
hang  in  front  of  the  ears  two  pendants  of  pearls,  and 
behind  two  bells)  and  a  tasselled  saddle-cloth,  kept 
in  its  place  by  cords  which  pass  under  their  bodies  and 
form  knots  on  their  backs.  The  person  of  distinction  was 
seated  astride  in  the  most  comfortable  place  on  their 
necks :  holding  in  his  hand  the  special  crook  (ahku^a^,  he 
was  his  own  driver  :  and,  in  fact,  we  know  that  in  ancient 
India  the  art  of  driving  elephants  formed  an  integral 
part  of  a  complete  education.  Right  on  the  elephant's 
hind  quarters  crouches  a  standard-bearer,  who  doubtless, 
in  the  case  of  a  rapid  motion,  held  on  to  the  knot  of 
the  belly-band.  As  for  the  elephants  themselves  with 
their  trunks  and  one  of  their  fore-feet  slightly  bent  back, 
they  are,  as  usual,  admirably  rendered.  Formal  leaves  and 
flowers  decorate  the  upper  part  of  the  capitals.  An  inscrip- 
tion on  the  inner  face  of  that  to  the  left  invokes  imprecations 
on  whosoever  shall  remove  a  single  stone  of  the  gate  or 
the  railing.  As  regards  the  two  caryatids,  see  below,  §  5  fl. 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  sAnCHI  87 

§  3 .  Decoration  of  the  lintels.  —  The  three  lintels  likewise 
repeat  on  both  their  faces  several  symmetrical  forms  of 
decoration. 

rt)  On  the  fagade  (pi.  VIII,  i)  we  shall  note  first  three 
kmds  of  false  capitals,  of  a  character  quite  Iranian,  which, 
contmuing  the  two  uprights,  break  through  each  lintel. 
On  the  two  lower  ones  the  decorative  designs  consist 
of  winged  lions,  two  of  which  are  seated  back  to  back, 
while  a  third  protrudes  its  head  and  two  front-paws 
through  the  space  between  them.  On  the  topmost  one 
they  consist  of  two  great  fully  harnessed  draught  oxen, 
likewise  seated  back  to  back,  but  furthermore  ridden  by 
two  men. 

a)  On  the  reverse  side  (pi.  VII,  2)  the  corresponding  sub- 
jects are  in  the  same  order  :  two  pairs  of  goats,  with  or 
without  horns;  two  pairs  of  two-humped  camels,  likewise 
seated;  two  pairs  of  horned  lions,  standing  and  passant.  All 
these  animals  serve  as  steeds  for  riders  of  both  sexes  and  of 
different  types,  nativeand  foreign.  One  of  those  at  the  sum- 
mit has  short  hair,  tied  with  a  fillet,  and  carries  in  his  left 
hand  a  piece  of  a  vine-stock. 

^)  The  extremities  of  the  lintels  are  uniformly  decora- 
ted both  on  the  observe  and  on  the  reverse  by  a  kind  of  long 
tendril,  rolled  seven  times  round  itself  and  attached  to 
the  whole  by  an  ornament  of  honeysuckle  :  this  makes  a 
total  of  twelve  snails,  and  produces  a  somewhat  unfortunate 
effect.  If  it  were  claimed  that  this  is  an  attempt  to  imitate 
the  Ionic  volute,  it  would  have  to  be  acknowledged  that  it 
is  inverted  and  executed  in  a  most  rudimentary  fashion. 
c)  The  whole  surface  of  the  lintels  unoccupied  by  these 
decorations  is,  as  a  general  rule,  consecrated  to  legendary 
scenes.  There  is,  it  seems,  no  exception  to  be  made,  except 
upon  the  facade  and  only  on  the  projecting  portions  of  the 


88  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

lower  and  middle  lintels.  The  former  are  garnished  with 
two  pairs  of  peacocks  —  a  triumph  of  graceful  design, 
which  is  to  be  found  also  on  the  northern  gate  —  and  the 
latter  by  wild  elephants. 

§  4.  The  supports.  —  We  agree  to  designate  by  this  term 
the  four  cubical  blocks  placed  in  the  prolongations  of  the 
uprights  and  the  six  uprights  set  in  between  the  three  lin- 
tels to  separate  them  from  one  another. 

a)  On  the  fagade  (pJ.  VIII,  i)  the  lower  support  to  the 
right  and  the  upper  one  to  the  left  both  represent  a  feminine 
figure  seated,  with  one  leg  hanging  down,  upon  a  lotus 
issuing  from  a  lottery  vase  (bhadra-ghatd)  :  she  holds  in 
her  hand  this  same  flower,  and  on  two  other  lotuses  at 
either  side  of  her  two  standing  elephants  douse  her,  or  are 
in  the  attitude  of  dousing  her,  with  two  pitchers  held  at  the 
ends  of  their  trunks.  We  know  that  this  motif  is  preserved 
even  to  our  days  in  the  representations  of  the  Indian  For- 
tune :  but  we  have  reasons  for  believing  that  this  was  not 
the  original  denotation  (').  The  subjects  of  the  two  other 
corresponding  panels  belong,  in  any  case,  to  the  category 
of  Buddhist  miracles.  The  one  on  the  left  represents  the 
(c  preaching  of  Buddha  »  by  means  of  the  Wheel  of  the  Law 
placed  on  a  throne  under  a  parasol  among  the  usual  wor- 
shippers, human  and  divine.  The  one  on  the  right  shows 
us  —  as  is  proved  by  the  characteristically  twisted  floweret 
of  his  tree,  —  the  Messiah  of  Buddhism,  Maitreya,  symbo- 
lised by  this  campaka  or  ndga-pushpa  {Michelia  champaka  or 
Mesua  Roxhurghii). 

a')  On  the  reverse  side  of  the  gate  (pi.  VII,  2)  the  lower  sup- 
ports are  decorated  only  with  lotuses  issuing  from  a  bha- 


(i)  See  above,  p.  70,  n.  i. 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  sInCHI  89 

dra-gbata;  but  the  upper  ones  return  to  the  legendary  scenes 
with  two  stupas  emblematic  of  the  Parinirvdm  of  the 
Master,  and  quite  similar  to  those  on  the  front,  of  which, 
as  we  shall  see  below  (§  lo  a),  they  complete  the  number. 
h)  One  may  connect  with  these  the  symbols  on  the 
front  of  the  six  uprights,  symbols  usually  enclosed  between 
a  raihng  and  merlons  :  namely,  formal  Bodhi-trees  and 
columns  surmounted  by  the  Wheel  of  the  Law  or  by  a 
lion  simply. 

b'}  Behind  they  are  all  covered  with  the  same  ornamenta- 
tion, in  which  the  lotus  is  united  with  the  honeysuckle. 

SS-The  detached  figures.  —  To  exhaust  the  list  of  symmet- 
rical subjects,  nothmg  further  remains  for  us  than  to 
enumerate  the  detached  figures  in  full  relief  (cf.  above, 
page  66,  and  pi.  VIII,  i). 

a)  The  most  interesting  are  the  fees  (^yakshini,  cf.  above, 
p.  70),  who,  with  the  curve  of  the  mango-tree  from  which 
they  hang  by  the  two  arms,  form  so  ingeniously  deco- 
rative a  bracket.  Only  the  figure  on  the  right  is  preserved. 
Like  the  men,  she  wears  a  long  dhoti;  only  it  is  made  of 
a  more  transparent  material.  Her  hair,  curiously  erected 
in  the  form  of  a  brush  on  the  top  of  the  head,  is  spread 
over  the  back  (instead  of  being  gathered  in  a  plait,  as  is  the 
case,  for  instance,  with  the  female  dancers  of  §  6  a).  In 
addition  to  earrings,  necklace  and  bracelets  for  the  wrists, 
she  wears  ankle-rings,  which  come  nearly  up  to  her  knees, 
and  the  characteristic  feature  of  an  Indian  woman's  toilet, 
the  rich  belt  of  jewelry  which  covers  the  loins.  In  confor- 
mity with  the  custom  of  the  ancient  school,  the  sex  is 
indicated. 

b)  The  few  smaller  figures  to  be  found  on  this  gate  — 
which  we   may   complete  in  our  thoughts  by   analogy 


90  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

with  the  northern  gate  —  comprise  also  another  fairy  in  a 
different  pose,  three  elephants,  in  each  case  mounted  by  two 
persons,  and  a  miserable  vestige  of  a  lion. 

c)  As  for  the  symbols  at  the  summit,  they  were  three  in 
number.  At  the  top  of  each  upright  two,  of  which  one  is 
still  in  its  place,  represented  the  top  of  a  flag-staff.  In  the 
middle  —  on  a  pedestal  probably  formed  of  four  lions, 
flanked  by  two  worshippers  bearing  fly-flappers  —  stood 
finally  the  ancient  solar  symbol  of  the  wheel,  placed  at  the 
service  of  the  Good  Law. 

The  Legendary  Scenes. 

After  this  rapid  sketch  of  the  decorative  elements  we 
enter  upon  a  necessarily  much  more  detailed  examination 
of  the  religious  scenes.  For  it  is  self-evident  that  it  is  emin- 
ently these  that  need  explanation. 

We  will  begin  with  those  which  are  figured  on  the  two 
faces,  namely  the  front  and  the  interior  ones,  which  hold 
the  place  of  honour  in  the  jambs.  We  have  already  seen 
that  their  exterior  faces  bear  only  one  decorative  motif 
(§  I  a).  As  regards  their  rear  faces,  they  left  no  space 
above  the  balustrade,  except  for  two  little  bas-reliefs, 
analogous  to  those  which  we  have  already  noticed  on 
the  supports  (cf.  ^  4  a  and  fl')  :  taken  all  together, 
they  represent  in  the  same  stereotyped  manner,  by  the 
pretended  adoration  of  the  tree,  the  wheel  and  the  stupa, 
the  three  great  traditional  miracles  of  the  Illumination, 
the  Preaching,  and  the  Death  of  Buddha. 

§  6.  Front  face  of  the  right  jamb.  —  This  facade  is  decorated 
with  four  superposed  buildings  :  the  lower  one  has  only 
one  story;  the  middle  ones  have  two,  both  covered  with  a 
rounded  roof,  in  which  are  open  bays  in  the  shape  of  a 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  91 

horse-shoe;  the  top  one  has  one  story,  surmounted  by  an 
uncovered  terrace,  which  is  surrounded  on  three  sides  by 
a  group  of  buildings.  It  is  difficult  in  the  present  state  of 
the  stone  to  judge  of  the  distribution  of  the  persons  on  the 
lower  panel;  but  the  five  following  ones,  divided  likewise 
into  three  compartments  by  columns  with  or  without 
Persepohtan  capitals,  are  all  composed  in  the  same  manner. 
The  centre  is  occupied  by  a  divine  personage,  as  is  proved 
by  the  thunderbolt  which  he  holds  in  his  right  hand  and 
the  vase  of  ambrosia  in  his  left.  God  though  he  be,  he  is 
for  the  rest  conceived  in  the  image  of  an  Indian  king.  Behind 
him  stand  the  bearers  of  his  parasol  and  fly-flapper,  insignia 
of  his  royalty;  on  his  right,  in  the  same  surroundings,  but 
on  a  slightly  lower  seat,  is  his  viceroy  (upardjd).  At  his 
left  are  seen  the  musicians  and  dancers  of  his  court.  It  is 
well  known  that  this  concert-ballet  is  according  to  Indian 
ideas  the  indispensable  accompaniment  of  a  happy  mun- 
dane life.  Indications  of  trees  form  the  background.  On 
the  upper  terrace,  as  on  a  balcony,  lean  two  other  gods, 
hkewise  fanned  by  women. 

We  have  enumerated  above  (p.  /[)  the  reasons  which 
miHtate  in  favour  of  the  identification  of  this  series  of  sto- 
ries with  those  of  the  Buddhist  paradise.  They  would  there- 
fore serve  respectively  as  dwelHng-places,(i)for  athe  Four 
Great  Kings  »,  guardians  of  the  four  cardinal  points  (the 
necessity  of  housing  all  four  of  them  would  explain  the 
absence  of  bayaderes  in  the  compartment  to  the  right  of  the 
lower  panel,  at  the  same  time  that  their  subordinate  cha- 
racter would  justify  the  line  of  demarcation  traced  by  the 
roof  of  the  palace  between  them  and  the  following  ones); 
—  (2)  for  the  Thirty-three  Gods  over  whom  Indra  reigns, 
and  (3)  for  those  ruled  by  Yama;  —  (4)  for  the  Satisfied 
Gods  (Tushitd),  among  whom  the  Bodhisattva  resided  before 


92  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCh! 

his  last  re-descent  upon  earth;  (5)  for  the  Gods  who  dispose 
of  their  own  creations;  —  (6)  and  finally,  for  those  who 
even  dispose  of  the  creations  of  others,  and  whose  king 
Mara,  God  of  Desire  and  Death,  extends  his  empire  over 
the  five  lower  heavens.  As  for  the  two  persons  on  the 
terrace,  they  would  represent  the  last  divinities  still  visible 
to  our  human  eyes,  those  of  Brahma's  world. 

§  7.  Inner  face  of  the  right  jamb.  —  This  face,  according  to 
Fergusson,  presents  an  exceptional  interest,  «  being  the 
only  subject  at  Sanchi  that  we  can,  with  certainty,  attri- 
bute to  Buddhism,  as  it  is  known  to  us  ».  To-day  it  is  better 
known;  but  the  representation,  on  the  upper  extremity  of 
the  middle  bas-relief,  of  the  «  dream  ot  Maya  »,  —  other- 
wise, the  «  conception  of  the  Bodhisattva  »,  who  descends 
into  his  mother's  bosom  in  the  form  of  a  little  elephant  — 
remains  certainly  in  this  case  the  pivot  of  all  identification. 
We  know  that  this  scene,  so  strange  to  our  eyes,  in  which 
it  is  a  pachyderm  which  plays  the  part  of  the  dove  in  our 
«  Annunciations  »,  is  itself  certainly  identified  by  the  Bar- 
hut  inscription  :  «  The  Descent  of  the  Blessed  One  ». 
Consequently,  we  might  be  tempted  to  see  in  the  upper 
bas-rehef  a  picture  of  the  Bodhisattva  in  the  heaven  of 
the  Tushita  gods  at  the  moment  when  he  prepares  to  be 
born  again  in  the  royal   family  of  Kapilavastu.  But  the 
sculptor  prevents  us  from  going  astray  in  that  direction  by 
the  care  which  he  has  taken  to  represent  before  and  behind 
the  empty  throne  obviously  the  same  king  and  the  same 
tree  which  we  find  again  at  the  bottom  of  the  lower  panel. 
He  could  not  more  clearly  indicate  that  he  is  referring  us  to 
the  latter  to  find  the  solution  of  the  enigma. 

a)  If  we  turn  then  to  that  (pi.  IX,  2),  we  shall  find,  first  of 
all,  in  the  centre  of  the  composition  this  same  king,  about 


HAST6RN  GATE  OF  SANChI  ^5 

to  set  out  with  great  pomp  from  one  of  the  gates  of  his  good 
town  of  Kapilavastu.  He  is  in  his  chariot,  accompanied  by 
the  three  usual  servants,  the  driver,  holding  the  reins  and 
the  whip,  the  parasol  and  fly-flapper  bearers.  As  is  cus- 
tomary, the  horses,  whose  head-adornment  is  very  high, 
have  their  long  tails  carefully  tied  up  to  the  harness, 
doubtless  in  order  that  they  may  not  inconvenience  the 
occupants  of  the  chariot.  At  their  left  the  archers  of  the 
guard  stand  out  along  the  ramparts  of  the  city,  and  in 
front  march  the  herald  and  the  seven  musicians  of  the  royal 
orchestra,  blowing  oblique  flutes  and  shells  or  beating 
drums.  Behind  we  perceive,  emerging  from  the  streets 
of  the  town,  a  brilliant  suite  mounted  on  horses  and  ele- 
phants. Through  the  balconies  of  the  verandas  spectators, 
mostly  women,  protrude  their  heads,  curious  to  see  the 
procession  of  the  feudal  cortege  of  king  ^uddhodana  and 
his  peers,  the  noble  lords  of  the  race  of  ^akya. 

Where  are  they  going?  Not  far,  it  seems,  into  a  park 
near  the  town,  where  all  have  dismounted;  and  the  first 
idea  is  that  they  are  going  to  the  famous  park  of  Lumbini, 
theatre  of  the  «  Nativity  » ,  which  may  be  presaged  by  the 
scene  (at  the  top  of  the  panel)  of  the  «  Conception  ».  But 
there  is  nothing  to  corroborate  this  hypothesis.  The  king 
and  the  ^akyas  appear  indeed  all  occupied  in  contemplating 
with  clasped  hands  some  miraculous  event:  but  their  eyes 
are  raised  into  the  air,  and  the  object  towards  which  they  are 
turned  is  a  small  rectangular  slab,  stretched  exactly  above 
their  heads.  It  cannot  take  us  long  to  recognize  in  this  slab 
the  a  promenade  of  precious  stone  »  (Skt.  ratna-cahkramd) 
which  Buddha  created  by  magic  «  in  the  air  »,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  his  first  return  to  his  native  town  of  Kapilavastu  ('). 


(i)  Mahdvastu,   III,    p.   113;    Commentary  on   the  Dhammapada,  ed. 
Fausb0ll,  p.  334;  Mahdvama,  XXX,  st.  81,  etc. 


7 


94  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

The  legend  is  well  known  :  on  the  occasion  of  this  meeting 
between  the  father,  who  had  remained  a  king,  and  the  son, 
who  had  become  Buddha,  a  most  dehcate  question  of 
etiquette  had  arisen  :  which  of  the  two  should  salute  the 
other  first?  The  Blessed  One  escaped  the  difficulty  by  the 
miracle  which  the  sculptor  has  endeavoured  to  represent  as 
well  as  he  could  with  his  limited  means  and  without 
representation  of  Buddha  himself. 

b)  Apparently  he  was  still  somewhat  distrustful  of  the 
intelligence  of  his  spectators;  for,  in  order  to  give  more  pre- 
cision, he  has  been  careful  to  put  in  the  first  row  at  the  left  a 
nyagrodha  tree  surrounded  by  a  balustrade.  This  Ficus  indica 
(clearly  distinguished  from  the  agvattha  or  Ficus  religiosa,  as 
it  is  represented,  for  instance,  on  the  face  of  the  left  jamb) 
is  evidently  intended  to  symbolise  by  itself  the  nyagrodha- 
ardma  at  the  gates  of  Kapilavastu,  which  on  the  same  occa- 
sion king  Quddhodana  assigned  to  his  son  for  a  resi- 
dence. Henceforth  the  meaning  of  the  upper  bas-relief 
becomes,  reciprocally,  clear  enough.  It  represents  in  the 
same  eUiptical  manner  the  Buddha  seated  upon  a  throne, 
under  this  same  nyagrodha,  in  the  before-mentioned  hermi- 
tage; and  the  said  king,  his  father  —  always  to  be  recogni- 
zed by  the  spindle-shaped  object  kept  in  its  place  by  a 
buckle  of  gems  on  the  top  of  his  turban  —  «  renders 
homage  to  him  for  the  third  time  »,  whilst  the  ^akyas, 
whose  pride  has  been  broken  by  the  miracle,  imitate  his 
example.  As  always,  the  tree  is  adorned  with  garlands  and 
surmounted  by  a  parasol  of  honour,  whilst  in  the  heavens 
two  divinities,  mounted  on  griffons,  and  two  others,  half 
man  and  half  bird,  bring  still  more  garlands  or  cause  flowers 
to  rain  down. 

But  what  now  is  the  point  of  the  motif  of  the   «  Con- 
ception »,  thus  intercalated  between  two  episodes  which 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANChI  95 

took  place  more  than  forty  years  after  ?  The  answer  is 
simple ;  it  is  there  solely  to  say  :  «  the  action  takes  place  at 
Kapilavastu  »;  and  it  is  just  this  which  explains  why,  in 
spite  of  its  traditional  importance,  it  is  treated  in  so  secon- 
dary a  manner.  What  else  could  our  sculptor  do,  unless 
he  attached  a  label,  as  at  Barhut  ?  He  has  taken  care  to 
supplement  by  the  addition  of  the  nyagrodha  the  somewhat 
summary  indication  of  the  ratna-cahkrama.  For  the  rest,  that 
is  for  the  royal  procession,  he  has  given  free  play  to  his 
spirit  of  observation  and  his  taste  for  the  picturesque, 
trusting  in  the  means  which  otherwise  he  has  put  at  our 
disposal  for  localizing  the  event  and  identifying  the  prota- 
gonists :  and,  if  on  this  point  we  have,  as  we  believe,  arrived 
at  a  definite  interpretation,  it  is  solely  owing  to  the  docility 
with  which  we  have  followed  his  indications. 

For  the  person  standing  at  the  foot  of  the  jamb  and  the 
one  opposite  to  him  we  must  refer  to  §  i  ^  above. 

§  8.  Inner  face  of  the  left  jamb.  —  For  the  general  sense  of 
the  bas-reliefs  of  this  jamb  and  the  link  which  connects 
them  we  must  refer  to  what  was  said  above  on  pages  76-7. 

a)  We  will  begin  this  time  with  the  upper  panel  of  the 
inner  face.  Apparently  it  represents  the  rural  country  town 
of  Uruvilva,  whose  immediate  approaches  had  been  a  few 
months  previously  the  scene  of  the  Sambodhi,  and  later  — 
after  Buddha's  first  journey  to  Benares  —  of  the  conversion 
of  the  Kagyapas.  Above,  at  the  left,  women  are  doing  their 
household  work  on  the  thresholds  of  their  huts;  one  is  husk- 
ing rice  in  a  wooden  mortar  with  a  huge  pestle ;  another 
winnows  it  with  a  fan  in  the  form  of  a  shovel ;  two  neigh- 
bours are  one  of  them  rolling  out  pastry-cakes  and  the  other 
grinding  curry-powder.  The  attention  of  the  latter  seems 
to  be  distracted  by  the  (perhaps  amorous)  conversation  of 


96  EAStERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

the  man  seated  beside  her.  Further  down  to  the  right  two 
more  women  with  round  pitchers  upon  their  hips  are 
going  in  the  direction  of  the  river  Nairanjana  (now  the 
Lilanj),  where  a  third  is  already  stooping  to  fill  her  ghati. 
Some  men  are  coming  and  going,  the  bamboo-pole  on  their 
shoulders  laden  or  empty.  It  is  the  village  hfe  of  two  thou- 
sand years  ago  :  it  is  also  the  village  life  of  to-day,  and  there 
is  not  one  of  the  utensils  represented  there  that  we  have 
not  somewhere  seen  in  use.  Troops  of  oxen,  buffalos,  goats, 
sheep  add  life  to  the  picture.  In  what  does  its  edification 
consist?  Simply  in  this,  that  the  invisible  Buddha  is  felt 
to  be  seated  under  a  parasol  and  on  a  throne,  behind 
which  two  devotees  are  standing.  Before  the  gate  of  the 
village  a  third  person  is  likewise  to  be  seen,  with  his  hands 
clasped ;  and  the  attitude  of  this  villager  is  the  only  connec- 
ting Unk  between  the  genre  scenes,  so  complacently  treat- 
ed, and  the  religious  subject,  which  is  decidedly  a  little 
sacrificed.  As  for  the  two  worshippers,  we  beUeve,  after  care- 
fully weighing  everything,  that  we  must  recognize  in  them 
the  gods  Indra  and  Brahma,  paying  a  visit  to  the  Bles- 
sed One  in  his  residence,  which  was  near  to,  but  distinct 
from,  that  of  the  oldest  of  the  Kagyapas,  the  Ka^yapa 
of  Uruvilva.  This  interpretation  not  only  has  the  advan- 
tage of  connecting  the  subject  with  the  series  of  won- 
ders which  in  the  end  determined  the  conversion  of  the 
Brahmanical  ascetics  :  it  also  provides  a  place  moreover  for 
the  third  and  fourth  of  those  prdtihdryas,  besides  containing 
an  implicit  allusion  to  the  second,  in  the  order  in  which  the 
Mahdvagga  (i,  16-18)  counts  them.  If  it  is  objected  that 
these  miracles  are  given  in  the  text  as  taking  place  during 
the  night,  we  shall  reply  that  our  sculptors  have  systematic- 
ally ignored  this  detail,  for  the  very  good  reason  that  it  was 
not  within  their  competence  (cf.  below,  §11  a). 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  97 

b)  However  the  case  may  be,  the  panel  immediately 
below  represents  patently  the  miracle  of  the  «  victory  over 
the  wicked  serpent  »,  the  first  in  the  version  of  the  Mahd- 
vagga,  the  last  in  that  of  the  Mahdvastu.  Buddha  has  been 
allowed  by  the  oldest  of  the  Ka^yapas  to  pass  the  night,  at 
his  own  risk  and  peril,  in  a  fire-temple,  in  spite  of  the 
redoubtable  ndga  which  inhabits  it  (pi.  IX,  i).  The  latter 
at  once  attacks  him,  and  the  two  struggle  together  for  a 
long  time,  smoke  against  smoke,  flame  against  flame, 
until  the  final  defeat  of  the  dragon.  This  is  why  we  here 
see  flames  escaping  by  the  horse-shoe  bays  in  the  rounded 
roof  of  the  temple, «  as  if  it  were  a  prey  to  fire  » .  Through  the 
pillars  supporting  the  roof,  between  the  fire  altar  (or  rather 
vessel  of  fire)  and  the  five-headed  hood  of  the  serpent  you 
see  the  throne  of  the  invisible  Buddha.  On  either  side  Brah- 
manic  anchorites,  characterised  by  their  high  conical-sha- 
ped head-dresses  and  their  bark-garments,  are  contemplating 
with  surprise  or  respect  the  victory  of  the  Blessed  One, 
whilst  below,  to  the  left,  three  young  novices  are  hastening 
to  go  and  fill  pitchers  at  the  Nairaajana.  Their  intention,  if 
we  are  to  believe  the  analogy  of  Gandhara  (cf .  Art  greco- 
bouddhique  du  Gandhdra,  fig.  224,  225  b,  etc.),  is  to  use 
them  in  extinguishing  the  fire.  On  the  right  an  ascetic 
has  just  made  his  report  to  the  old  Ka^yapa,  seated  on  a  rol- 
led-up  mat  (brisM)  on  the  threshold  of  his  round  hut,  with 
its  roof  of  leaves  (parmgdW);  a  band  is  passed  round  his 
knees  and  loins,  and  his  head  is  leaning  upon  an  esparto 
cushion.  In  front  is  a  row  of  trees  along  the  bank  of  the 
river.  The  instruments  of  the  Vedic  sacrifice,  an  elephant, 
antelopes,  two  buffalos,  which  lift  their  heads  with  an  air 
of  alarm,  trees  swarming  with  monkeys,  complete  or  close 
the  picture  of  the  hermitage.  On  the  whole,  the  miracle 
is  related  as  minutely  as  was  possible  to  the  sculptor.  The 


98  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

whole  question  is  to  find  out  whether  he  has  not  sought,  in 
accordance  with  his  habit,  to  combine  two  subjects.  At  the 
middle  bottom,  in  the  river  —  indicated  as  usual  by  waved 
lines,  lotuses  and  aquatic  birds  —  an  adult  anchorite,  who 
is  about  to  bathe,  seems  to  be  watching  a  fire-cauldron, 
placed  in  unstable  equilibrium  on  the  edge  of  the  water. 
If  we  remember  that  one  of  the  wonders  accomplished  by- 
Buddha  consisted  precisely  in  creating  fires,  in  order  to 
allow  the  Brahmans  to  warm  themselves  on  leaving  the 
bath,  we  cannot  help  asking  ourselves  whether  we  have  not 
here  at  least  one  allusion  to  this  hnher prdtihdrya  (cf.  Mahd- 
vagga,  I,  20,  15). 

c)  In  any  case,  two,  or  even  three,  miracles  are  grouped 
on  the  next  small  panel.  Here  again,  it  is  understood,  the 
intention  of  edifying  does  not  prevent  the  scene  from  being 
treated  in  a  picturesque  manner  After  the  life  of  the  village 
it  is  the  life  of  the  hermitage  that  we  have  before  our  eyes. 
On  the  right  two  anchorites  are  splhting  wood  by  means  of 
axes  which,  if  we  may  judge  from  their  massive  appearance 
and  the  form  of  their  handles,  must  be  made  of  stone;  two 
others  are  occupied  in  lighting  fires,  and  a  fifth  holds  in 
his  hand  a  sacrificial  spoon,  whilst  two  novices  are  car- 
rying on  their  shoulders  the  one  a  fagot  of  logs  and  the 
other  a  double  basket  of  provisions.  Among  the  trees  at  the 
back  a  sacred  tumulus,  as  is  proved  by  the  balustrade  sur- 
rounding it,  must  enclose  the  rehcs  of  some  superior  of  the 
community,  and  thus  gives  the  last  touch  of  local  colour  ('). 


(i)  We  may  notice  that  the  form  of  this  stiipa  is  the  most  ancient  of 
which  Indian  art  has  preserved  the  image.  In  the  objects  decorating  its 
circumference  (along  shell,  a  double  basket  (?),  and  a  large  conch)  we  should 
be  disposed  to  see  —  like  the  oar  planted  by  the  companions  of  Ulysses  on 
the  tumulus  of  Elpenor  —  the  implements  used  by  the  deceased  during  hi? 
lifetime. 


EASTERN  GATE  OF   SANCHl  99 

But  for  the  initiated  all  the  details  of  the  decoration  have 
at  the  same  time  an  edifying  signiHcation.  The  texts  tell  us, 
in  fact,  that  according  to  the  will  of  the  Blessed  One  these 
logs  and  these  fires  alternately  refused  and  consented,  the 
former  to  allow  themselves  to  be  split  and  the  latter  to  let 
themselves  burn.  That  is  why,  on  the  right,  one  of  the  ancho- 
rites continues  to  hold  his  axe  in  the  air,  without  being 
able  to  lower  it  (');  whilst  his  neighbour  has  just  succeeded 
by  a  lucky  stroke  in  splitting  his  piece  of  wood.  It  is  also 
for  the  same  reason  that,  of  the  two  Brahmans  who  are 
lighting  their  fires  by  fanning  them  with  esparto  screens, 
the  one  in  the  second  row  cannot  succeed  in  obtaining  any 
flame  whatever,  whilst  the  one  in  the  first  row  sees  his  fire 
blaze  up  brightly.  These  two  miracles  are  related  to  us  by 
the  Mahdvagga  (i,  20,  12-13)  in  the  same  breath.  But  what 
then  would  be  the  role  of  the  anchorite  on  the  left?  We 
imagine  that  we  must  turn  to  the  Mahdvastu  (III,  p.  426, 
1.  15-18)  for  the  answer.  His  attitude  suffices  by  itself  to 
indicate  the  twofold  marvel,  which  is  perfectly  analogous 
to  the  preceding  ones,  of  the  oflFering  which  at  first  will 
not  be  detached  from  the  spoon,  then  at  last  consents  to 
fall  —  in  the  shape  of  a  snail  doubled  up  —  into  the  sacri- 
ficial pile  (pi.  IX,  i)- 

§  9.  —  Front  face  of  the  left  jamb. 

a)  Nevertheless,  in  order  to  overcome  the  arrogance  of 
the  old  Brahman,  there  was  need  of  another  miracle,  whose 
decided  importance  was  of  sufficient  value  to  cause  it  to  be 


(i)  We  borrow  this  interpretation  from  the  Mahdvastu,  III,  p.  428, 
1.  4-8,  but  -without  concealing  from  ourselves  the  fact  that  it  may  just  as 
well  have  been  conceived  afterwards  in  view  of  a  bas-relief  analogous  to 
the  one  at  S^nchi. 


100  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

placed  upon  the  front  of  the  pillar,  as  it  forms  the  denou- 
ment  of  the  episode  in  the  Mahdvagga  (i.  20,  15 ;  wanting 
in  the  Mahdvastu)  :  «  At  this  time  there  fell  out  of  season  a 
heavy  rain,  and  a  great  flood  followed  ».  You  will  understand 
henceforward  why  the  Nairafijana  has  risen  to  the  point 
of  washing  the  lower  branches  of  the  trees,  to  the  greatest 
terror  of  the  monkeys  who  have  taken  refuge  there,  and  also 
to  the  evident  satisfaction  of  the  water  birds  and  even  of  a 
crocodile.  On  the  swollen  waters  of  the  river  old  Kacyapa 
hastens  in  a  curiously  jointed  canoe,  attended  by  two 
ascetics  with  paddles,  to  the  assistance  ot  the  Blessed  One. 
But  the  latter  has  left  his  seat  (relegated  to  the  bottom  at 
the  right  of  the  composition),  and  has  formed  for  himself 
a  cc  promenade  »,  which  allows  him  to  walk  about  with 
dry  feet  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  waters.  This  time  the 
anchorite  cannot  but  recognize  the  transcendent  superiority 
of  his  host  :  when  we  see  him  again  below,  standing  on 
the  bank  with  his  disciples,  he  is  turning  his  back  towards 
us,  in  order  to  make  in  the  direction  of  the  master's  ccfn^mmfl 
the  gesture  of  submission  oil  anjaliQ). 

h)  There  remains  then  to  be  explained  the  panel  imme- 
diately below.  Once  more  it  represents  a  king  leaving  his 
capital  :  chariot,  music,  guards,  suite,  spectators,  every- 
thing, even  the  architecture,  is  similar  to  §  7  £t.  Only  we 
notice  the  way  in  which  the  rampart  of  bricks  goes  right  to 
the  top  of  the  panel,  in  order  to  separate  the  city  from  the 


(i)  It  appears  to  us  that  the  ingenious  suggestion  that  he  has  prostrated 
himself  must  be  put  aside  :  for  in  that  case  we  could  not  understand  how  his 
disciples  could  remain  standing  ;  besides,  the  ilowers  placed  near  him  are 
scattered  almost  everywhere  in  the  picture  and  are  found  likewise  on  one  of 
the  preceding  bas-reliefs  (§  8  h).  Also,  the  analogy  of  §  7  «  is  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  identification  of  the  cankrama  ot  the  Blessed  One  with  the 
great  washing-stone  brought  to  him  on  another  occasion  by  the  god  Indra. 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  loi 

scene  which  takes  place  on  its  outskirts.  The  first  thing  is  to 
know  the  name  ofthe  town  :  but  this  time  it  is  to  the  neigh- 
bouring scenes  that  we  must  address  our  questions.  We  have 
already  seen  above  (p.  77)  that  they  reply  unanimously  :  it 
is  the  capital  of  Magadha.  The  texts  for  their  part  agree  in 
telling  us  that  immediately  after  the  conversion  ofthe  Ka^ya- 
pas  and  their  thousand  disciples  the  Blessed  One,  at  the 
head  of  his  new  community  of  saints,  repaired  to  Raja- 
griha,  and  at  the  gates  of  the  town  received  the  solemn  visit 
of  King  Bimbisara  Q).  In  accordance  with  the  usual  cus- 
tom the  king  advanced  in  his  good  chariot  as  far  as  the 
road  would  allow  a  carriage  to  pass;  then  he  descended  and 
went  on  foot  towards  Buddha.  This  is  what  he  is  doing  at 
the  top  on  the  left,  followed  by  one  sole  companion,  whose 
duty  is  to  represent  in  his  own  person  the  king's  innume- 
rable cortege.  Before  the  empty  throne  ofthe  Blessed  One 
conventional  indications  of  water  and  rocks  succeed,  in 
default  of  a  wood  of  bamboos,  in  particularizing  the  location 
ofthe  scene  on  the  hill  Antagiri  near  the  famous  hot  springs 
of  Rajgir  Q.  As  for  the  rest  of  the  story,  it  must  naturally 
be  supplemented  by  the  help  of  the  texts  :  the  king  and  the 
people  of  Magadha  wonder  at  first  concerning  Buddha  and 
old  Ka^yapa,  which  is  the  master  and  which  the  disciple; 
the  public  homage  ofthe  old  anchorite  will  soon  decide  the 
question.  If  we  see  nothing  of  all  this,  it  is  because  the 
Sanchi  bas-reliefs  systematically  omit  all   representation 


(i)  Mahavagga,  I,  22;  Mahdvastu,  III,  p.  441-449  ;  Dlvydvaddna,  p.  393. 

etc. 

(2)  Cf.  CoNNiNGHAM,  Arch.  Reports,  III.  p.  140  :  «  I  fixed  the  position  of 
the  Bamboo  Forest  to  the  south-west  of  Rajgir,  on  the  hill  lying  between 
the  hot-springs  of  Tapoban  and  old  Mjagriha  ».  It  is  precisely  by  the  «  Gate 
of  the  Hot  Springs  »  (tapoda-dvdra)  that  the  Lalita-Visiara,  xvi,  makes 
Buddha  for  the  first  time  enter  Rajagriha. 


102  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

not  only  of  Buddha,  but  also  of  his  monks  (cf.  above, 
p,  75).  It  is  easy  to  observe  hovv^  infinitely  clearer  the  sole 
representation  of  the  latter  makes  the  same  series  of  epi- 
sodes on  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  balustrades  of  Amaravati 
(Fergusson,  pi.  LXX,  or  Art  greco-bouddh.  du  Gandh., 
fig.  228). 

c)  Finally,  every  one  must  recognize  at  the  top  of  this 
same  face,  in  the  religious  fig-tree  (ctfvattha)  surmounted, 
as  usual,  by  a  parasol  and  inhabited  by  winged  genii,  the 
tree  and  the  symbol  of  the  perfect  «  Bodhi  of  the  Blessed 
One  (^akya-Muni  »  ;  of  this  the  inscription  on  an  analo- 
gous bas-relief  at  Barhut  convinces  us.  In  both  cases  v^e 
find  at  the  foot  of  the  same  tree  the  same  throne,  surmoun- 
ted by  the  same  symbol  (which  is  double  at  Barhut),  and, 
about  the  offshoot  of  the  branches,  the  same  temple  open 
to  the  sky.  We  may  safely  aver  that  this  strange  sanc- 
tuary is,  at  the   earliest,  that  which  A^oka  had  piously 
built  around  the  sacred  tree,  more  than  two  centuries  after 
the  death  of  the  Master  :  but  this  flagrant  anachronism  is 
one  of  those  to  which  we  are  perfectly  accustomed  in  the 
rehgious  art  of  all  times  and  all  countries,  and  does  not  in 
any  wise  prevent  the  picture   from    relating  to  the  very 
miracle  of  the  Illumination  of  Buddha.  Perhaps  it  has  not 
been  observed  with  sufficient  attention  that  the  analogy  of 
Barhut  forces  us  to  establish  a  close  connection  between 
this  scene  and  the  double  row  of  people  contiguous  to  it : 
the  whole  difference  consists  in  the  fact  that  here  they  are 
above  it,  while  in  the  former  case  they  are  below;  but  the 
inscriptions  prove  that  they  are  different  categories  of  Gods, 
and  must  be  regarded  as  grouped  in  adoration  at  the  four 
cardinal  points  of  the  tree,  as  happened  at  the  moment  of 
the  SambodhiQy  Henceforward  we  must  here  also  recog- 

(i)  For  the  bas-reliefs  see  Cunningham,  Barhut,  pi.  XIV,  i,  and  for  the 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  sAnCHI  103 

nize  in  the  four  worshippers  at  the  bottom  «  the  four 
great  kings  »,  whohve  in  our  atmosphere,  to  the  right  those 
of  the  east  and  the  south,  to  the  left  those  of  the  north  and 
west.  The  ten  persons  of  the  first  row,  counting  two  for 
each  heaven,  would  then  indicate  the  kings  and  viceroys 
of  the  five  other  paradises  of  the  Kamavacaras,  just  as  on 
the  face  of  the  other  pillar  (§  6)  they  happen  to  be  repre- 
sented in  their  heavenly  palaces;  then  the  eight  gods  in  the 
row  above,  of  whose  bodies  (as  in  the  case  of  the  two  who 
form  their  counterpart  on  the  upper  terrace  on  the  right)  only 
half  is  seen,  would  represent  in  twos  the  inhabitants  of  the 
four  stages  of  Brahma's  heaven,  the  last  that  we  may  ask  the 
sculptor  to  show  us  (cf  above,  p.  71).  Thus  a  close  exami- 
nation reveals,  under  the  evident  striving  after  variety  in 
the  outer  forms,  a  striking  carefulness  in  balancing  the 
intrinsic  importance  and  the  religious  value  of  the  subjects 
on  the  symmetrical  faces  of  the  two  jambs. 

§  10.  Upper  lintel.  —  We  shall  find  traces  of  the  same 
carefulness  on  the  two  faces  of  the  Hntels,  where,  side  by 
side  with  symmetrical  decorations  (cf.  above,  §  3),  great 
Buddhist  compositions  also  are  to  be  found.  We  will  begin 
our  study  of  them  at  the  top,  a  method  which  will  appa- 
rently allow  us  to  follow  a  certain  chronological  order  in 
reviewing  the  scenes. 

a)  Thus  it  is  that  the  jrontal  of  the  gate  is  occupied  from 
one  end  to  the  other  by  a  symbohcal  representation  of  the 


inscriptions  HoLTZiCH,  lud.  Antiquary,  XXI,  p.  235.  Let  us  notice  also  on 
the  front  face  of  the  lower  lintel  of  the  western  gate  (the  back  face  of  the 
same  lintel  in  the  restoration  of  to-day,  and  the  front  face  of  the  upper  lintel 
in  the  plan  of  Cole  ap.  Fergussom,  pi.  XVIII)  that  the  defeat  of  Mira's 
army  by  Buddha  is  represented  beside  a  Bodbi  tree,  which  is  already  sur- 
rounded by  his  temple. 


104  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

seven  last  Buddhas  of  the  past,  typified  alternately  by  the 
tumulus  of  their  Parinirvdm  and  the  tree  of  their  Sambodhi 
(pi.  VIII,  i).  The  sculptor,  having  only  two  trees  at  his  dis- 
posal, considered  it  his  duty  to  give  the  honour  of  being 
placed  on  the  fronton  to  the  first  and  the  last  Buddha  of 
the  series  :  in  fact,  by  comparison  with  the  reverse  side, 
one  can  distinctly  recognize  on  the  right  of  the  central 
stupa,  the  Bignonia  of  Vipa^yin,  and  on  the  left  the  sacred 
fig-tree  of  Gautama,  otherwise  called  ^akya-muni.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  two  missing  tumuli  are  restored  on  the  two 
upper  supports  (cf.  §  4  a')  of  the  reverse  side,  so  as  to  com- 
plete the  traditional  number.  This  observation  allows  us  to 
suppose  that  some  aesthetic  scruple  alone  prevented  the 
artist  from  placing  the  seven  stupas  in  a  row  on  the  facade, 
as  on  the  other  face  he  did  not  hesitate  to  do  with  the 
seven  corresponding  trees  (cf.  above,  p.  72). 

b)  For  the  rear  facade  (pi.  VII,  i)  it  will  be  sufficient  to 
give,  according  to  the  text  and  the  inscribed  bas-reliefs  at 
Barhut,  a  list  of  the  seven  Buddhas  and  their  respective 
Bodkidrunias.  Here  they  are,  in  the  order  in  which  they  are 
presented,  going  from  right  to  left  of  the  spectator  : 

Vipacyin  (Pfl/z  Vipassin).  Patali  (Bignonia  suaveolens). 

Qkhin  (P.  Sikhin).  Pundarika  (Mangifera 

[and  not  nymphaa]). 

Vifvabhu  (P.  Vessabhu).  (^a.h  (Shorearobusta^. 

Krakucchanda    (P,    Kaku-  Qirisha  (Acacia  sirissa). 

sandha). 

Kanakamuni     (P.     Kona-  Udumbara     {Ficus    glome- 

gamana).  rata}. 

Kacyapa  (P.  Kassapa).  Nyagrodha  (^Ficus  indicd). 

Gautama  (P.  Gotama).  A^vattha  (Ficus  religiosa). 

It  will  be  well  likewise  to  connect  with  this  series  the 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  105 

representation,  on  one  of  the  upper  supports  of  the  facade, 
of  the  tree  of  the  eighth  and  future  Buddha  of  our  age, 
Maitreya  (cf.  §4  a). 

§  II.  Middle  lintel  —  The  middle  lintel,  which  is  closer 
to  the  eye  of  the  spectator,  replaces  these  symbolical 
pictures  by  two  episodes,  borrowed,  the  one  from  the  youth, 
the  other  from  the  career  of  ^akya-muni. 

a)  Front  face.  —  We  have  already  stated  (above  p.  75) 
what  from  the  point  of  view  of  Buddhist  iconography 
constitutes  the  chief  interest  of  the  central  panel  (pi.  X,  i). 
On  the  left  we  perceive  the  stereotyped  representation  of 
a  town,  proved  by  the  context  to  be  Kapilavastu,  in  its 
streets  and  at  its  windows  the  customary  animation  is  to  be 
seen  (cf.  §  7  a  and  S  F)  :  il  is  clear  that  the  sculptor  has 
not  troubled  himself  in  the  least  about  the  fact  —  which  of 
course  he  knew  as  well  as  we  do  —  that  the  escape  of  the 
Bodhisattva  took  place  during  the  night.  The  latter,  on  his 
good  horse  Karithaka,  is  passing  through  the  city  gate  for 
«   the  great  departure  »   (Mahdhhinishkramand)  ■.,    and  we 
can  follow,  to  the  right,  in  no  less  than  four  successive 
editions,  the  progress  of  his  miraculous  course  :  but  on 
each  occasion  the  embroidered  rug  which  serves  as  a  saddle 
to  his  steed  is  presented  to  us  without  a  rider.  Each  time 
also  the  cortege  is  the  same  :  Chandaka,  the  faithful  atten- 
dant, holds,  as  usual,  the  parasol;  four  Gods  are  lifting  the 
horse's  feet,  in  order,  it  was  thought,  that  the  sound  of  his 
shoes  might  not  give  the  alarm ;  another  has  taken  posses- 
sion of  the  fly-flapper  :  two  others,  who  at  first  are  dwarfs, 
but  for  the  sake  of  variety,  strangely  enough,  grow  bigger 
by  degrees  as  they  advance  towards  the  right,  are  carrying 
the  ewer  and  the  sandals ;  next,  others  are  throwing  flowers, 
waving  their  scarves,  or  beating  the  heavenly  drums.  When 


io6  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

the  right  jamb  of  the  gate  forces  the  sculptor  to  end  the 
series  of  his  repetitions,  the  attendant  and  the  horse  are,  as 
it  is  written,  taking  leave  of  their  Master.  But  the  latter  is 
figured  only  by  the  gigantic  imprint  of  his  feet^  marked  by 
the  wheel  and  surmounted  by  the  fly-flapper  and  the  parasol. 
Finally,  at  the  bottom  on  the  right,  Chandaka  is  returning 
to  the  house,  leading  with  him  Kanthaka  and  bringing  (in 
his  right  hand  and  in  a  kind  of  wallet  slung  over  his 
shoulder)  the  jewels  which  the  young  prince  has  just  taken 
off  for  ever,  in  order  to  embrace  the  religious  life.  The  three 
persons,  at  once  both  edified  and  contrite,  who  follow,  are, 
doubtless,  the  emissaries  whom  king  ^uddhodana  vainly 
charged  to  bring  back  his  son. 

Such  is  the  manifest  meaning  of  this  long  scene  :  but  we 
still  have  to  account  for  the  sacred  tree  —  the  parasol  sur- 
mounting it,  and  the  railing  which  surrounds  it,  are  a  proof 
of  this  sacredness  —  which  occupies  the  centre  of  the 
panel.  Assuredly  it  is  there  for  reasons  of  symmetry ;  but 
this  position  of  honour  demands  also  that  it  shall  have  a 
meaning  :  and  this  meaning  will  come  to  us  the  very 
moment  that  we  recognize  in  it  (thanks  always  to  the 
comparison  with  the  inscribed  bas-relief  of  Barhut,  Cun- 
ningham, pi.  XLVIII,  I  r)  a  jambu  tree  (^Eugenia  jambu).  A 
jambu  tree  so  close  to  Kapilavastu  cannot  be,  in  Buddhist 
art,  anything  but  the  one  whose  shadow  ceased  one  day 
to  turn  to  the  sun,  in  order  to  continue  to  shelter  «  the  first 
meditation  »  of  the  still  young  Bodhisattva.  We  shall 
notice  how  three  persons,  without  ceasing  to  associate 
themselves  with  the  principal  action,  form  around  the  tree 
of  the  miracle  the  necessary  group  of  worshippers.  Thus 
the  artist  has  been  able  to  combine  most  ingeniously  in 
one  and  the  same  picture  a  summary  indication  of  the 
commencement,  and  a  detailed  representation  of  the  ddnoue- 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl  107 

ment,  of  the  religious  vocation  of  the  Predestined.  And  who 
can  say  even  whether  the  quadruple  repetition  of  the  horse 
and  the  procession  leaving  the  town  were  not  connected 
in  his  mind  with  the  intervening  episode  of  the  famous 
«  four  outgoings  »,  which  by  the  successive  encounter 
with  an  old  man,  a  sick  person,  a  dead  man  and  a  monk, 
revealed  to  the  future  Buddha  the  miseries  of  Hfe  and  the 
only  way  of  salvation  ? 

h)  Rear  face.  —  In  case  the  good  sculptor  had  still 
further  intentions,  may  we  be  pardoned  by  his  ashes,  if  we 
cannot  perceive  them!  May  he  pardon  us  above  all,  if  we 
cannot  grasp  exactly  with  what  episode  of  the  legend  we 
must  connect  the  scene  that  covers  the  whole  reverse  side 
of  the  middle  lintel.  It  is,  no  doubt,  the  Buddha  Cakya- 
muni  who  is  supposed  to  be  seated  on  this  empty  throne, 
since  the  tree  which  shelters  it  is  a  Holy  Fig-tree,  exactly 
similar  to  the  one  which  decorates  the  left  projection  of  the 
upper  lintel.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Blessed  One  is  evidently 
far  in  the  jungle,  in  the  sole  companionship  of  the  beasts 
assembled  to  do  him  homage  and  belonging  as  much  to 
the  kingdom  of  phantasy  as  to  the  kmgdom  of  nature.  First 
of  all,  there  are  four  lions  guarding  his  throne,  two  seen  in 
full  face  and  two  in  profile;  then  buffalos  and  antelopes, 
observed  and  rendered  in  a  marvellous  manner ;  and  further- 
more birds,  some  with,  and  some  without  crests,  bearing 
flowers  and  fruits  in  their  beaks.  Side  by  side  with  these  real 
animals  we  see  dream-monsters  :  on  the  right,  bulls  with 
human  faces  and  —  forgetting  their  natural  enmity  in  the 
contemplation  of  the  Blessed  One  —  a  great  polycephalous 
serpent  by  the  side  of  an  enormous  vulture  Garuda,  whose 
ears  are  adorned  with  earrings ;  on  the  left  Tibetan  dogs, 
with  manes  and  claws.  To  sum  up,  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
sculptor's  decorative  menagerie  was  mobilized  in  this  scene. 


lo8  EASTERN  GATE  OF  sIncHI 

Now  there  was  indeed  a  celebrated  occasion  on  which,  after 
the  great  internal  quarrel  of  Kaugambi,  Buddha  left  his  com- 
munity, in  order  to  retire  into  solitude  :  and  he  was 
among  the  beasts  and  the  beasts  even  served  him  (Mahd- 
vagga,  X,  4,  6-7).  But  here  we  find  none  of  the  traditional 
details  of  the  episode,  at  least  as  it  is  related  in  the  Pali 
text. 

§  12.  Lower  linid.  —  Then  the  last  lintel  seems  to  us  to 
bear  on  its  two  faces  scenes  subsequent  to  the  death  of 
Buddha. 

a)  Front  face.  —  In  the  centre  stands  the  tree  now  so 
well  known  to  us  as  that  of  his  Illumination  (cf.  §  9  c)  • 
but  here  this  tree  receives  a  royal  visit.  It  is  quite  cer- 
tain that  the  Blessed  One  was  not  visited  by  any  king  at 
Bodh-Gaya  :  for  the  texts  give  us  a  detailed  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  he  employed  the  days,  and  even  weeks, 
which  preceded  and  followed  his  attainment  of  omniscience. 
It  remains,  therefore,  that  it  can  only  have  been  in  comme- 
moration of  Buddha  that  the  ceremony  here  represented 
took  place.  Let  us  remind  ourselves,  however,  of  what  is 
told  us  of  Afoka,  how  the  great  emperor  evinced  a  special 
devotion  to  the  tree  of  the  Bodhi,  and  continually  show- 
ered presents  upon  it,  so  many  and  so  often  that  his  favorite 
queen,  Tishyarakshita,  looking  upon  it  as  a  rival,  became 
jealous  and  caused  a  pariah  sorceress  to  cast  a  spell 
upon  it.  The  tree  began  to  wither,  and  Acoka  declared 
that  he  would  not  survive  it;  fortunately  the  queen,  being 
undeceived,  was  able  in  time  to  arrest  the  effect  of  the 
witchcraft;  whereupon  the  emperor  decided  to  do  «  what 
none  of  the  sovereigns  of  the  past,  neither  Bimbisara  nor 
the  others,  had  done  »,  that  is,  to  come  in  procession  and, 
with  a  view  to  giving  back  to  the  tree  all  its  first  splen- 


EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHi  109 

dour,  «  to  water  it  with  pitchers  of  scented  water  » 
QDivydvaddna,  p.  397-398).  Now  what  is  it  exactly  that  we 
see  here  (pi.  X,  2)?  On  the  right  a  king,  accompanied,  as 
usual,  by  his  wives,  his  orchestra,  and  his  guards,  dismounts 
languishingly  from  his  elephant,  encouraged,  it  seems,  by 
his  queen  and  helped  by  a  young  dwarf.  The  latter  is  pro- 
bably a  Yaksha,  exactly  like  those  who  frequent  the  interior 
of  the  sanctuary;  for  we  are  told  that,  like  Solomon,  Agoka 
commanded  the  genii.  Immediately  on  the  right  of  the 
sacred  tree  we  see  again  the  same  king,  preceded  by  his 
queen,  and  both  with  their  hands  devoutly  clasped  render 
homage  to  it.  On  the  other  side  there  advances  Hkewise, 
to  the  sound  of  another  orchestra,  a  solemn  procession  of 
faithful  laymen,  bearing  banners,  flowers,  and  further  (in 
their  midst  and  in  the  front  rank)  pitchers,  evidently  inten- 
ded for  the  watering  of  the  tree.  This  last  detail  has  won 
our  conviction  (cf.  above,  p.  79).  Finally,  from  this  identi- 
fication it  would  result  that  this  time  the  indication  of 
the  temple  round  the  tree  open  to  the  sky  would  not  be 
an  anachronism  (cf.  p.  102). 

b)  Rear  face.  —  Besides,  as  we  have  already  said,  this 
is  not  the  only  legend  belonging  to  the  cycle  of  A^oka 
that  seems  to  us  to  have  inspired  the  image-makers  of 
Sanchi,  Concerning  the  tumulus  of  Ramagrama  two  other 
stories  were  still  current  among  them ;  or  rather  two  ver- 
sions of  the  same  story.  According  to  one  this  stupa  was 
honoured  by  mythical  serpents  (ndgd);  in  the  other  it  was 
wild  elephants  (n&ga')  who  paid  their  devotions  to  it  :  we 
are  not  far  from  beheving  that  this  simple  pun  gave  rise  to 
the  two  forms  of  the  tradition.  However  that  may  be,  the 
first  is  figured  on  the  southern  gate  :  the  other,  we  believe, 
is  here.  Besides,  whatever  may  be  the  name  by  which  the 
stupa  is  called,  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of  the 


no  EASTERN  GATE  OF  SANCHl 

Story  written  in  stone.  Tliose  are,  in  fact,  wild  elephants, 
which  are  marching  in  procession  towards  the  sanctuary 
from  the  two  extremities  of  the  lintel ;  and  it  is  indeed  as 
votive  offerings  that  they  lift  in  their  trunks,  or  are  still 
dragging  with  their  tusks,  flowers  torn  from  the  lotuses  in 
the  nearest  lake. 

We  shall  here  end  these  notes,  already,  perhaps,  too 
long  and  nevertheless  most  summary.  If  we  wished  to 
describe  in  detail  and  one  by  one  the  five  hundred  and  more 
characters,  who,  without  counting  the  animals,  figure 
on  this  one  gate  alone,  we  should  never  have  finished ; 
and  we  might  just  as  well  undertake  to  write  an  ency- 
clopaedia of  Indian  Antiquities.  The  Httle  that  we  have  said 
will,  at  least,  be  sufficient  to  justify  the  double  allegation 
which  we  believed  might  be  put  forward  regarding  this  gate 
(p.  80)  :  it  seems  in  fact  upon  investigation  that  these 
sculptures  are  for  the  most  part  deciphered ;  and  no  one  will 
think  of  disputing  the  fact  that  they  offer  a  certain  amount 
of  interest  for  the  history  of  civilization  in  general,  and 
more  especially  for  that  of  art  applied  to  religion. 


PLATES  VII-X 


All  the  photographs  of  which  plates  VII-X  are  composed  have  been 
kindly  lent  to  us  by  the  Director- General  of  Archaeology  in  India, 
Mr.  J.  H.  Marshall,  and  all  the  stereotypes  by  M.  E.  Leroux. 


Pi.  VII,  I  :     ( 

lescribei 

d  on  pp.  63-64 

PI.  VII,  2  : 

i> 

72,  79>  87-8,  104,  107-8,  109-110 

PI.  VIII,  I  : 

» 

65-66,  86-89 

PI.  VIII,  2 : 

» 

71,  85-86 

PI.  IX,   I  : 

» 

76,  97-99 

PI.  IX,  2  : 

» 

92-95 

PI.  X,    I   : 

1) 

75.  105-7 

PI.  X,  2   : 

» 

79-  io8-9 

THE  GREAT  STUPA  AT  SANGHI 


'L.   VII 


1.   —  GENERAL    VIEW,    TAKEN    FROM    THE    EAST 


2.— BAGK  VIEW  OF  LINTELS  OF  EASTERN  GATE 


THE    GREAT    STUPA    AT    SANGHI 


PL.   VIII 


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THE    EASTERN    GATE    OF    SANGHl 


PL.    IX 


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THE    EASTERN    GATE    OF    SANGHI 


PL.   X 


1.  THE    VOCATION,    OR    GREAT    DEPARTURE 

(FHONr    VIEW    OF    MIDDLE    LINTEL) 


2.         A    PROCESSION    TO    THE    EODHI-TREE 

(FRONT    VIEW    OF    LOWER    LINTEL) 


The  Greek  Origin  of  the  Image  of  Buddha  0. 


One  of  the  advantages  of  the  Mus(^e  Guimet  most 
appreciated  by  its  orientalist  lecturers  is  that  they  are  free 
to  dispense  with  the  oratorical  precautions  which  they 
must  take  everywhere  else.  Generally,  wherever  they  ven- 
ture to  open  their  mouths,  they  believe  themselves  obliged 
to  begin  by  asking  pardon  of  their  auditors  for  the  great 
liberty  which  they  take  in  speaking  on  subjects  so  far 
removed  from  their  usual  occupations  and  for  drawing 
them  into  surroundings  so  different  from  those  in  which 
they  are  accustomed  to  move.  Such  a  formahty  would 
in  this  case  be  entirely  superfluous.  You  could  not  but 
be  aware  of  the  fact  that  on  crossing  the  threshold  of 
this  Museum  you  would  immediately  find  yourself  trans- 
ported from  Europe  to  Asia,  and  you  would  hardly  expect 
me  to  apologize  for  speaking  of  Buddha  in  the  home  of 
Buddha.  For,  if  he  is  not  the  sole  inhabitant  of  this  hospi- 
table house,  haven  of  all  exotic  manifestations  of  reli- 
gious art,  I  dare  at  least  to  say  that  he  is  its  principal  tenant. 
To  whatever  gallery  your  steps  may  lead  you,  be  it  conse- 
crated to  India  or  to  China,  to  Indo -China  or  to  Tibet,  to 
Japan  or  to  Java,  him  you  will  never  fail  to  meet  again  and 
again,  in  room  after  room,  with  the  dreamy  look  of  his  half- 
closed  eyes  and  his  perpetual  smile,  at  once  sympathizing 
and  disillusionized. If  the  distraction  of  yourgaze,  wandering 


(i)  Lecture  at  the  Mus^e  Guimet  [Bihliotheque  de  Vulgarisation  du  Musee 
Guimet,  vol.  XXXVIII). 

9 


112  GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 

from  image  to  image,  does  not  too  much  dissipate  your  atten- 
tion, and  if  your  minds  succeed  by  degrees  in  disregarding  the 
diversity  of  the  dimensions  and  the  variety  of  the  materials, 
you  will  not  be  long  in  noticing  that  always  and  everywhere, 
minute  or  gigantic,  carved  in  wood,  cut  in  stone,  modelled 
in  clay,  cast  or  beaten  in  metal,  he  continues  to  be  astonish- 
ingly like  himself.  Soon,  by  dint  of  verifying  the  justness 
of  this  first  observation,  you  will  arrive  at  the  reflexion  that 
so  great  an  uniformity  supposes,  at  the  origin  of  all  these 
idols,  the  existence  of  a  common  prototype,  from  which 
they  will  have  been  more  or  less  remotely  descended. 
And  thus  in  the  end  you  are  inevitably  confronted  by  the 
question  which  I  have  to-day  set  myself  the  task  of  answer- 
ing. If  it  shall  appear  that  the  reply  brings  us  back  straight- 
way and  in  a  rather  unexpected  manner  towards  the 
familiar  horizons  of  our  classic  antiquity,  well!  that  will 
simply  be  one  more  element  of  interest. 

But  before  interrogating  the  images  of  Buddha  concern- 
ing their  more  distant  origins,  it  is  well  to  define  exactly 
what  we  mean  by  the  name.  Europeans  commonly  make 
the  strangest  abuse  of  it.  How  many  times  have  I  not 
heard  —  and  usually  on  the  most  charming  lips  —  the 
very  elementary  principles  of  Buddhist  iconography  out- 
raged, and  no  matter  what  statuette,  Chinese,  Tibetan, 
or  Japanese,  however  monstrous  it  might  be,  thought- 
lessly designated  by  the  name  which  ought  to  be  reserved 
for  ^akyamuni  and  his  peers!  What  would  you  think  of  an 
Asiatic  who  should  designate  en  bloc,  by  the  one  name  of 
«  Christ  »,  not  only  Our  Lord,  God  the  Father,  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  the  Blessed  Virgin,  but  also  all  the  angels,  all 
the  saints,  and  even  all  the  devils  of  Christianity?  After 
having  first  laughed,  you  would  soon  cry  out  at  the  sacri- 
lege :  and  yet  that  is  what  we  calmly  do  every  day  by  lump- 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  113 

ing  together  under  the  name  of  the  one  Buddha  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Buddhist  heavens  and  even  hells.  There- 
fore, let  me  implore  you,  once  for  all  —  especially  the 
ladies  —  no  more  thus  to  profane  the  name  of  the  Blessed 
One  by  applying  it  indifferently  at  one  time  to  savage  or 
even  obscene  demons,  at  another  to  extravagant  divinities, 
bristling  with  manifold  heads  and  arms,  and  at  another  to 
simple  monks. 

In  strictness,  the  title  of  «  Illuminated  »  —  for  such  is 
very  nearly  the  equivalent  of  «  Buddha  »  —  ought  to  be  re- 
served for  a  personage  whom,  for  my  part,  I  should  not 
hesitate  to  regard  as  historic,  for  that  scion  of  the  noble 
family  of  the  ^akyas,  who  was  born  in  the  north  of  India, 
at  the  foot  of  the  central  Himalaya,  towards  the  middle  of 
the  VI"'  century  before  our  era ;  who  about  his  thirtieth 
year  gave  up  his  possessions,  his  parents,  his  wife,  his 
child,  in  order  to  embrace  the  wandering  life  of  a  mendi- 
cant monk ;  who,  after  six  years  of  vain  study  and  austerities, 
finally  at  the  foot  of  the  ever-green  fig-tree  of  Bodh-Gaya 
discovered  the  secret  of  liberating  human  beings  from 
the  evils  of  existence ;  who  during  more  than  forty  years 
preached  in  the  middle  portion  of  the  basin  of  the  Ganges 
salvation  by  the  suppression  of  desire,  the  root  of  all  suffer- 
ing ;  who  died  and  was  cremated ;  whose  ashes,  regarded 
as  holy  reUcs,  were  distributed  to  the  four  quarters  of 
India  and  deposited  under  vast  tumuli,  where  we  still  find 
them  to-day  ;  whose  image,   finally,   is   still  enthroned 
above  the  flower-adorned  altars,  mid  clouds  of  incense  and 
murmurs  of  prayers,  in  all  the  pagodas  of  the  Far  East. 
And,  doubtless,  this  effigy  served  in  its  turn  as  a  model  for 
those  of  the  mythical  predecessors,  or  of  the  transcendent 
hypostases,  which  Indian  imagination  was  not  long  in  creat- 
ing for    him   in  unlimited    numbers,    through  infinite 


ii4  GREEK  ORlGlN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  tYPE 

time  and  space,  in  the  depths  of  our  terrestrial  past  as 
well  as  in  the  abysses  where  at  this  moment  move  all  the 
other  universes.  But  such  is  the  servile  fidelity  of  these 
copies  that  from  the  iconographic  point  of  view  one  may 
say  :  «  There  is  no  Buddha  but  Buddha  ».  Now  the  essen- 
tial character  of  this  figure  is  precisely  that  always  and 
everywhere,  through  all  the  differences  of  gesture  and  pose, 
it  assumes  only  one  form,  simply  and  purely  human.  This 
is  the  most  important  fact  to  be  borne  in  mind.  As  for  the 
particular  signs  which  prevent  our  ever  faiUng  to  recognize 
the  type,  the  first  statue  or  photograph  to  your  hand  will 
familiarize  you  with  them. 


I 

Here  then  we  are  agreed  :  together  we  seek  the  origin  of 
the  image  of  the  Indian  mendicant  who,  by  the  prestige  of 
his  intelligence,  his  goodness  and,  perhaps,  also  of  his  per- 
sonal beauty,  exercized  over  his  contemporaries  an 
influence  capable  of  forming  a  basis  for  one  of  the  three 
great  religions  of  the  world,  that  which  from  his  epithet 
we  call  Buddhism.  At  the  first  view  the  problem  does  not 
seem  so  very  complicated.  Granted  that  all  these  represen- 
tations seem  to  descend  from  a  common  prototype,  the 
question  resolves  itself  into  discovering  the  place,  time, 
and  occasion  of  the  first  appearance  of  this  type.  In  other 
words,  it  will  be  necessary,  but  sufficient,  to  determine 
which  are  the  most  ancient  known  images  of  Buddha. 
Theoretically,  nothing  is  more  simple;  in  practice  we 
quickly  perceive  that  the  thing  is  sooner  said  than  done. 

It  is  in  Ceylon,  the  first  Buddhist  stage  on  the  maritime 
high  road  of  Asia,  that  the  European  usually  finds  himself 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  115 

for  the  first  time  in  the  presence  of  veritable  idols  of  the 
Blessed  One.  Most  often  he  restricts  himself  to  an  excur- 
sion ,  along  red  roads  losing  themselves  in  the  distance  under 
a  slowly  diminishing  arch  of  green  palmeries,  to  the  singu- 
larly modernized  temple  of  Kelani,  a  little  to  the  north  of 
Colombo.  But,  even  if  he  pushed  on  as  far  as  the  ancient 
ruined  towns  of  the  interior,  he  would  be  no  more  success- 
ful in  finding  in  their  old  statues  the  original  type  which  we 
are  seeking.  With  still  greater  reason  would  he  renounce  the 
idea  of  encountering  it  in  the  other  terrestrial  paradise, 
that  of  the  austral  hemisphere ;  for  the  not  less  luxuriant 
island  of  Java  was  also  only  an  Indian  colony,  and, 
doubtless,  it  became  so  later  than  did  Ceylon.  The  hun- 
dreds of  Buddhas  who  have  given  a  name  to  Boro-Budur 
are  attributed  only  to  the  IX"'  century  of  our  era.  The  even 
more  recent  character  of  the  majority  of  the  idols  which 
are  still  venerated  in  Cambodia,  Siam  and  Burmah 
shows  only  too  clearly  through  their  tinsel  and  their  gild- 
ing. The  most  ancient  Lamaic  images  could  hardly  be 
anterior  to  the  official  proclamation  of  Buddhism  in  Tibet 
towards  the  year  632.  In  Japan  everyone  will  tell  you  that 
the  figure  of  the  Master  was  not  introduced  there  until  the 
VI"'  century,  and  that  it  came  from  China  through  the  inter- 
mediacy  of  Corea.  Nor  do  the  most  ancient  Chinese  images 
known  to  us,  those  of  the  grottoes  of  Long-Men  or  of  Ta-  , 
t'ong-fu,  which  M.  Chavannes  has  just  made  known  by 
reproductions,  go  back  beyond  the  IV"'  century  (*). 
Finally,  the  last  archaeological  missions  in  Central  Asia 
have  succeeded  in  proving,  as  had  already  been  supposed, 
that  their  model  came  from  India  by  the  two  routes  which 


(i)  E.    Chavannes,  Mission   archdologique  dans   la    Chine  septentrionak, 
Paris,  1909. 


n6  GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 

on  the  north  and  the  south  skirt  the  desert  of  Turkes- 
tan C). 

Thus  clearly  were  we  directed  in  advance  to  seek  the 
plastic  origins  of  Buddha  in  the  very  places  which  saw 
the  beginning  of  his  doctrine.  And,  were  it  not  of  inte- 
rest to  prove  the  diffusion  and  permanence  of  the  type 
through  the  whole  of  eastern  Asia,  we  might  have  spared 
ourselves  this  vast  circuit.  The  point  clearly  marked  for 
the  serious  commencement  of  our  quest  is  the  country  of 
Magadha,  otherwise  that  province  of  Behar  which  the  lat- 
est imperial  proclamation  of  Delhi  has  just  officially  detach- 
ed from  Bengal.  But  the  numerous  statues  in  black  bas- 
alt, which  we  there  find  —  to  begin  with  that  which  has 
been  set  up  over  the  altar  of  the  temple  of  Bodh-Gaya,  at 
the  very  spot  where  the  Illuminated  received  his  Illumina- 
tion — ,  go  back  for  the  most  part  only  to  the  dynasty  of 
the  Palas,  which  was  overthrown  by  the  Musalmans  in  the 
XII""  century  of  our    era.  The  excavations   of  Sarnath, 
the  site  of  the  First  Preaching,  in  the  northern  suburb  of 
Benares,  have  furnished  us  with  more  ancient  examples, 
carved  in  a  grey  sandstone  of  an  uniform  tint,  which  mark 
at  the  time  of  the  Gupta  Kings  (IV""  and  V"'  centuries  a.  d.) 
a  kind  of  renaissance  of  Indian  art.  More  to  the  north-west 
the  ruins  of  Mathura,  far  to  the  south-west  those  of  Ama- 
ravati  have  suppUed  us  with  still  older  ones,  which  the 
mention  on  the  former  of  the  Indo-Scyths,  on  the  second  of 
the  Andhras  carry  as  far  back  as  the  11°**  century  of  our  era. 
But  whether  carved  in  the  yellow-spotted  red  sandstone  of 


(i)  See,  for  example,  in  Grunwedel,  Bericht  uher  archdologische  Arbeiten 
in  Idikutschari  und  Umgebung  im  Winter  1902-1903  (Munich,  1906),  pi.  IV, 
fig.  I,  a  specimen  from  Turfan,  and  in  M.  A.  Stein,  Ancient  Khotan, 
pi.  LXXXII,  2,  another  example  from  the  environs  of  Khotan. 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  117 

Mathura  or  in  the  white  marble  of  Amaravati,  they  are  as 
like  as  brothers,  and  everyone  will  agree  that  they  are  des- 
cended from  a  common  ancestor  of  blue  slate  and  native 
to  the  north-western  corner  of  India. 

Thus,  following  our  thread,  we  have  already  remounted 
in  the  scale  of  years  nearly  twenty  out  of  the  twenty  five 
centuries  which  separate  us  from  the  time  of  Buddha.  The 
result  is  appreciable,  and  can  only  encourage  us  to  conti- 
nue. But  just  at  this  moment  the  thread  which  guided  us 
step  by  step  through  the  chaos  of  Buddhist  art  breaks 
off  sharp  in  our  hands.  While  statues  of  the  Master,  dated 
with  certainty  from  the  first  century  after,  if  not  before, 
Christ,  are  to  be  found  abundantly  in  the  Upper  Panjab  —  as 
is  proved  by  the  collections  of  the  provincial  capital  (pi.  XI, 
i)  —  we  vainly  seek  their  archetype  in  the  still  older  mo- 
numents of  central  India,  prior  to  the  second  century  of  our 
era.  One  significant  fact  robs  us  even  of  all  hope  of  ever 
finding  it  by  means  of  some  excavation  either  better 
carried  out  or  more  successful.  While  on  all  the  bas-reliefs 
of  the  Panjab  the  Blessed  One  is  represented  standing  in  the 
middle  of  the  panel,  on  the  balustrades  or  the  gates  of  Barhut 
orof  Sanchi  he  is  totally  absent  even  from  the  scenes  of  his 
own  biography.  This  fact  is  too  well  known  to  be  again 
dwelt  upon,  especially  as  we  have  already  made  an  experi- 
mental verification  of  it  (').  All  that  I  wish  to  insist  upon 
to-day  is  that  the  oldest  known  Buddhas  are  those  which 
we  have  encountered  in  the  «  House  of  Marvels  »,  as  the 
natives  call  the  museum  of  Lahore.  To  complete  the  geo- 
graphical part  of  our  quest,  it  remains  only  to  find  out 
exactly  whence  these  Buddhas  come.  The  former  keeper  — 
whom  many  of  us  know  from  the  fine  portrait  drawn  by 


(i)  See  above,  pp.  4-5  and  74-5. 


Ii8  GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 

the  filial  piety  of  Rudyard  Kipling  at  the  beginning  of 
«  Kim  »  —  is  no  longer  there  to  tell  lis ;  we  regret  to  have 
heard  last  year  of  his  death,  and  moreover  he  retired  long 
ago.  But  his  successor  will  answer  you  that  all  these  car- 
vings came  originally  from  the  district  of  Peshawar,  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Indus,  at  its  confluence  with  the  Kabul- 
Rud...  And,  doubtless,  your  first  astonishment  will  be 
that,  after  having  vainly  sought  not  only  throughout  the 
whole  of  still  Buddhist  Asia,  but  in  the  very  places  which 
saw  the  birth  of  Buddhism,  the  cradle  of  the  images  of  the 
founder,  we  have  finally  discovered  it  in  a  Musalman  coun- 
try and  on  the  western  confines  of  India. 

What  this  district  is  at  present  I  would  only  too  wiUingly 
stop  to  describe  to  you;  for  I  have  trodden  it  in  every  direc- 
tion during  happy  months  of  archaeological  campaigning. 
Gandhara  —  for  such  was  its  Sanskrit  name  —  shows  us 
after  all  only  a  vast,  gently  undulating  plain,  bristling  in 
places  with  rugged  hills,  and  three  parts  encircled  by  a  belt 
of  fawn-coloured  or  bluish  mountains,  which  nearly  every- 
where limit  the  horizon.  But  the  opening  left  by  them  on 
the  south-east  over  the  Indus  is  the  great  gate  of  India ;  and 
to  the  west  the  winding  Khyber  pass  remains  the  principal 
route  of  communication  between  the  peninsula  and  the 
Asiatic  continent;  and  the  towns  which  formerly  guarded 
this  ancient  route  of  invading  armies  and  merchant  cara- 
vans were  Purushapura  (now  Peshawar);  Pushkaravati, 
the  Peukelaotis  of  the  Greeks ;  ^alatura,  the  natal  town  of 
Panini,  the  great  legislator  of  Sanskrit  grammar ;  Udabhan- 
da  (now  Und),  where  the  great  river  was  passed,  in 
winter  by  a  ford,  in  summer  by  a  ferry,  and  whence  in 
three  days  one  reached  Takshagila,  the  Taxila  of  the  histo- 
rians of  Alexander...  And  immediately  you  feel  how  in  this 
country,  which  one  might  call  doubly  classic,  memories 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  119 

associated  with  the  two  antiquities,  Hellenic  and  Indian, 
arise  from  the  ground  at  each  step.  Even  if  history  had 
not  preserved  for  us  any  remembrance  of  the  memorable 
encounter  between  the  two  civilizations,  the  mute  wit- 
nesses in  stone,  which  we  have  come  purposely  to  interrog- 
ate, would  be  sufficient  to  estabHsh  it.  To  cut  as  short  as 
possible  (*),  let  me  lead  you  straight  to  the  centre  of  the 
country,  into  the  little  garrison  town  of  Hoti-Mardan  :  and 
there,  at  the  hospitable  mess  of  the  regiment  of  the  Guides, 
I  will  show  you,  leaning  against  the  wall  of  the  dining- 
room  and  no  longer  inhaHng  any  incense  but  the  smoke 
of  the  cigars,  the  most  beautiful,  and  probably  also  the 
most  ancient,  of  the  Buddhas  which  it  has  ever  been  grant- 
ed to  me  to  encounter  (pi.  XI,  2). 

Look  at  it  at  leisure.  Without  doubt  you  will  appreciate 
its  dreamy,  and  even  somewhat  effeminate,  beauty ;  but  at 
the  same  time  you  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  by  its  Hellenic 
character.  That  this  is  a  statue  of  Buddha  there  is  not  the 
least  doubt :  all  the  special  signs  of  which  I  was  speaking  a 
short  time  ago  bear  witness  to  its  identity j/Is  it  neces- 
sary to  make  you  lay  your  fingers  upon  that  ample  monastic 
robe,  that  pretended  bump  of  wisdom  on  the  crown  of  the 
head,  that  mole  between  the  eyebrows,  that  lobe  of  the  ear 
distended  by  the  wearing  of  heavy  earrings,  and  left  bare 
because  of  the  total  renunciation  of  worldly  adornments? 
These  are  all  traits  which  we  might  have  anticipated  from  the 
perusal  of  the  sacred  texts.  But,  if  it  is  indeed  a  Buddha,  it 


(i)  Here,  of  course,  we  can  only  note  the  principal  points.  Those  -who 
are  anxious  for  details  concerning  the  country,  its  archaeological  sites,  and 
the  results  of  the  excarations,  will  pardon  us  if  we  refer  them  to  our  works 
Sur  la  frontiere  indo-afghane  (Paris,  1901),  La  Geographic  ancienne  du  Gan- 
dhdra  (B.  E.  F.  E-0,  I,  1901),  L'Art  greco-bouddhique  du  Gandhdra  (Paris, 
1905-1914). 


120  GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 

is  no  less  evidently  not  an  Indian  work.  Your  European 
eyes  have  in  this  case  no  need  of  the  help  of  any  Indianist, 
in  order  to  appreciate  with  full  knowledge)  the  orb  of  the 
nimbus,  the  waves  of  the  hair,  the  straightness  of  the  pro- 
file, the  classical  shape  of  the  eyes,  the  sinuous  bow  of 
the  mouth,  the  supple  and  hollow  folds  of  the  draperies. 
All  these  technical  details,  and  still  more  perhaps  the 
harmony  of  the  whole,  indicate  in  a  material,  palpable  and 
striking  manner  the  hand  of  an  artist  from  some  Greek 
studio.  If  the  material  proofs  of  the  attribution  constitute 
what  I  should  be  prepared  to  call  the  native  contribution, 
neither  will  you  hesitate  to  ascribe  to  an  occidental  influence 
the  formal  beauty  of  the  work.  Thus  the  statue  of  Mardan, 
with  all  its  congeners,  appears  to  us  as  a  kind  of  compro- 
mise, a  hybrid  work,  which  would  not  in  any  language 
have  a  name,  had  not  the  no  less  heterocHte  term  of 
«  Greco-Buddhist »  been  forthwith  invented  for  ity 


II 


Such  is  the  —  I  must  confess  unexpected  —  result  of 
our  researches  on  the  spot.  It  is  only  in  the  country  which 
from  our  point  of  view  we  might  quite  correctly  call  the 
vestibule  of  India,  that  we  finally  discover  the  archetype 
of  Buddha;  and  when  at  last  we  find  it,  it  is  to  acknow- 
ledge that  its  appearance  is  at  the  least  as  much  Greek 
as  Indian.  The  fact  is,  doubtless,  sufficiently  surprising  to 
call  for  some  commentary.  What  historical  circumstances 
can  have  rendered  possible,  and  even  spontaneously  engen- 
dered, this  creation  of  the  Indo-Greek  type  of  Buddha? 
What  attracts  us  most  in  the  question  is,  I  will  warrant,  how 
the  Hellenic  influence  could  thus  have  reached  as  far  as  the 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  121 

banks  of  the  Indus.  Allow  me  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
fact  that  Gandharais  scarcely  further,  as  the  crow  flies,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Hellenized  Euphrates  than  from  that  of 
the  Buddhist  Ganges.  In  reality  the  problem  has  two  faces, 
like  the  images  which  we  have  to  explain.  To  account  for 
the  birth  of  such  a  statue,  it  is  necessary  to  justify  the  pene- 
tration not  only  of  Greek  Art,  but  also  of  the  Buddhist  reli- 
gion, into  the  country  which  was  to  be  the  theatre  of  their 
prolific  union.  And  it  is  indeed  with  the  latter  that  it  will  be 
best  to  undertake  the  historical  part  of  our  quest. 

At  the  present  time  not  only  is  this  unfortunate  Gan- 
dhara,  which  had  always  so  much  to  suffer  from  its  situa- 
tion on  the  high  road  of  the  conquerors  of  Asia,  no  longer 
Buddhist;  it  has  become  more  than  half  Afghan  in  race, 
Iranian  in  language,  and  withal  Musalman.  It  is  a  curious 
fact  that,  according  to  Strabo,  at  the  time  of  the  rude  and 
passing  conquest  of  Alexander,  the  «  Gandaritis  »  did  not 
form  a  part  of  India,  which  at  that  time  commenced  only 
at  the  Indus.  Seleukos,  after  his  fruitless  attempt  at  inva- 
sion in  305  before  our  era,  is  said  to  have  ceded  it  by 
treaty,  together  with  the  hand  of  his  daughter,  in  ex- 
change for  500  elephants,  to  the  first  historical  emperor 
of  India,  that  Candragupta  whom  the  Greek  historians  call 
Sandrakottos.  Fifty  years  later  this  district  still  formed  part 
of  the  domains  of  the  latter's  grandson,  the  famous  A50- 
ka;  and  he  caused  to  be  engraved  on  a  huge  rock,  half-way 
up  a  hill  near  the  present  village  of  Shahbaz-Garhi  (pi.  XII, 
i),  the  pious  edicts  in  which  he  recommended  to  his  peo- 
ple the  practice  of  all  the  virtues,  beginning  with  kindness 
to  animals.  From  the  fifth  of  these  edicts  it  quite  clearly 
appears  that  for  him  Gandhara  was  a  frontier  country,  still 
to  be  evangelized.  "We  know,  on  the  other  hand,  the  zeal  of 
this  «  Constantine  of  Buddhism  »  for  the  propagation  of  the 


122  GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 

Good  Law.  Then  again,  according  to  the  Singhalese  chro- 
nicle, the  Mahdvamsa,  it  was  precisely  during  his  reign  that 
the  apostle  Madhyantika  converted  Gandhara  as  well  as 
Kashmir.  Thus  the  religion  of  Buddha  would  have  taken 
more  than  two  hundred  years  to  spread  from  Magadha  as  far 
as  the  frontiers  of  northern  India,  We  see  no  reason  for  con- 
testing the  authenticity  of  a  tradition  in  itself  so  probable. 

Besides,  whatever  may  be  the  exact  date  of  the  introduc- 
tion of  Buddhism  into  Gandhara,  it  must  there  have  been 
specially  successful.  We  shall  end  by  finding  there,  duly 
acclimatized  and  deeply  rooted,  a  quantity  of  legends  which 
the  missionaries  had  brought  with  them  from  the  low 
country.  Some  did  not  hesitate  to  bring  Buddha  himself 
on  the  scene.  It  was,  they  said,  the  Master  in  person,  who 
had  overcome  the  terrible  Naga  of  the  Swat  river,  and  had 
limited  the  disastrous  inundations,  whence  this  aquatic 
genius  derives  all  his  subsistence,  to  one  in  every  twelve 
years.  In  the  same  way  it  was  no  longer  at  Rajagriha,  but 
at  one  stage  to  the  north-west  of  Pushkaravati,  that  the 
Blessed  One  is  now  supposed  to  have  converted  the  insati- 
able ogress  of  Smallpox.  Thanks  to  the  want  of  ortho- 
doxy on  the  part  of  mothers,  when  the  health  of  their  chil- 
dren is  in  question,  this  last  superstition  has  in  the  minds 
of  the  present  inhabitants  of  the  country  almost  alone 
survived  the  total  wreck  of  Buddhism.  A  small  quantity  of 
earth  from  a  certain  tamulus,  placed  in  the  tow\,  or  amulet- 
case,  usually  suspended  round  the  neck  of  the  new-born,  is 
still  considered  an  infallible  preservative  against  the  terrible 
infantile  epidemic ;  and  it  is  owing  to  this  curious  property, 
joined  to  the  topographical  information  of  Hiuan-tsang, 
that  I  was  able  to  recognize  the  traditional  site  of  this 
miracle. 

However,  it  was  to  be  feared  that  these  narratives  of  a 


Greek  origin  of  the  buddha  type  125 

personal  intervention  of  the  historic  Buddha  in  Gandhara 
might  justly  meet  with  the  same  incredulity  as  those  which, 
in  my  native  province,  begin  with  the  words  :  «  At  that  time, 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  travelling  in  Brittany...  »  For  the 
purpose  of  localization  in  the  country  they  preferred,  it 
seems,  to  fall  back  upon  the  numerous  previous  lives  in  the 
course  of  which  the  future  Buddha  attained  the  summit  — 
or,  as  we  should  say  to-day,  estabUshed  a  record  —  in  all 
perfections.  The  monks  of  several  convents  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Shahbaz-Garhi   had,  for   instance,    divided 
among  themselves,  by  very  clever  adaptation  to  the  pictur- 
esque accidents  of  the  landscape,  the  various  episodes  of 
the  romance  of  Vigvantara,  that  monomaniac  of  charity. 
Others  had,  so  to  speak,  specialized  either  in  the  touching 
story  of  the  young  anchorite  Qyama,  sole  support  of  his 
old  blind  parents,  or  in  the  galant  adventure  of  the  wise 
Ekagringa,  whom  the  seductions  of  a  courtesan  reduced  to 
the  role  of  beast  of  burden,  etc...  But  they  did  not  stop 
there ;  an  exceptionally  holy  tetrad  of  great  stupas,  situated 
in  Gandhara  proper,  or  in  the  bordering  territories,  soon 
marked  the  place  where  the  Sublime  Being  had  formerly, 
in  one  existence  after  another,  made  a  gift  of  his  flesh,  his 
eyes,  his  head,  and  his  body  —  the  first  to  buy  back  a  dove 
from  a  hawk,  the  last  to  satisfy  a  famished  tigress,  and  the 
two  others  with  an  intention  whose  practical  utility,  if  not 
its  edifying  character,  escapes  us.  And  thus  northern  India 
came  to  possess,  like  central  India,  its  «  four  great  pilgri- 
mages ».  It  is  not  in  any  way  an  exaggeration  to  say  that 
Gandhara  thus  became  (after  Magadha)  as  it  were  a  second 
Holy  Land  of  Buddhism ;  and  we  see  that  certain  Chinese 
pilgrims   were   quite  content  with  a  visit  there,  without 
feeling  the  necessity  of  pushing  as  far  as  the  basin  of  the 
Ganges. 


124  GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 

Only  this  local  prosperity  of  Buddhism  can  explain  to  us 
the  number  and  the  richness  of  the  ancient  religious  foun- 
dations of  the  country.  Some  repose  under  the  tumuli 
which  dot  the  plains  on  every  side,  and  are  used  by  the 
present  inhabitants  as  stone-quarries.  Others  are  hidden  in 
the  folds  of  the  mountains,  or  with  their  crumbling  walls 
cover  the  sharp  crest  of  some  spur.  Among  the  former  I 
will  name  to  you  in  particular  those  which  underly  the 
enormous  mound  of  Sahri-Bahlol  (pi.  XIII)  :  though 
excavated  long  ago,  they  still  with  their  artistic  spoils  enrich 
the  museum  which  has  lately  been  established  in  Peshawar, 
as  capital  of  the  new  «  North- West  Frontier  Province  ». 
Among  the  second  I  will  show  you  as  a  specimen  the  cele- 
brated ruins  of  Takht-i-Bahai  with  their  equally  inexhausti- 
ble reserves  (pi.  XII,  2) ;  on  the  platform  above  the  imposing 
retaining  walls  rise  the  dismantled  chapels  where  once  were 
enthroned  the  statues  which  have  since  taken  the  road  to 
our  museums,  those  mortuaries  of  dead  Gods.  You  are  free 
to  restore  them  in  thought  with  the  splendour  borrowed 
from  the  colours,  and  even  from  the  gold,  with  which  in 
former  days  care  was  taken  to  increase  in  the  dazzled  eyes 
of  the  faithful  their  appearance  of  life.  But,  above  all,  you 
must  grasp  the  fact  that  in  this  country  you  literally  walk 
on  ruins,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  corner  where  a  few  strokes 
with  the  pick-axe  will  not  bring  to  light  some  Buddhist  bas- 
relief  or  statue.  Evidently  Hiuan-tsang  was  scarcely  exag- 
gerating, when  he  estimated  approximately,  and  in  round 
numbers,  at  a  thousand  the  number  of  monasteries  which 
once  constituted  the  ornament,  as  also  the  sanctity,  of 
Gandhara.  If  you  will  now  reflect  that  this  anti-chamber 
of  India  has  from  all  times  been  the  region  most  open  to 
western  influences,  moral  as  well  as  artistic,  you  will  un- 
derstand the  double  role  which  it  was  naturally  called  upon 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  125 

to  play  in  the  evolution  of  the  religion  which  it  had  embra- 
ced with  so  much  zeal.  The  numerous  doctors  whom  it 
has  produced  have  taken  a  preponderating  part  in  the  trans- 
formation of  the  Buddhist  egoistical  «  salvation  »  into  the 
theory  of  a  charity  more  widely  active,  but  also  of  a  cha- 
racter more  metaphysical  and  pietistic,  which  its  adherents 
adorned  with  the  name  of  Mahayana.  But  the  important 
thing  for  us  here  is  not  so  much  the  abstruse  depth  of  its 
theologians  as  the  pious  generosity  of  its  donors.  It  was 
they  who,  according  to  all  probability,  took  the  initiative 
in  utilizing  for  the  satisfaction  of  their  religious  zeal  the 
talent  and  resource  of  the  Hellenistic  artists,  whom  his- 
torical circumstances  had  led  as  far  as  Ariana.  And  thus 
they  made  their  country  the  creative  home  whence  Buddhist 
iconography  was  by  degrees  propagated  throughout  the 
rest  of  India  and  the  Far  East. 

Of  the  two  elements,  the  Greek  and  the  Buddhist,  which 
concurred  in  the  production  of  our  Gandhara  statues,  we 
comprehend  then  already  the  second.  It  remains  to  explain 
the  intervention  of  the  first.  But  this  is  a  story  already  fami- 
liar to  you,  and  it  will  be  sufficient  if  I  recall  it  in  a  few 
words;  or  rather  I  should  like  to  give  you  an  illustration 
and,  as  it  were,  a  direct  apprehension  ofit,  by  putting  before 
your  eyes  the  most  artistic  of  the  documents  —  or,  if  you 
prefer,  the  most  documentary  of  the  works  of  art  —  I  mean 
the  coins. 

In  the  first  place,  I  shall  mention  only  by  way  of  remin- 
der Alexander's  forced  entrance  into  India  in  the  spring 
of  the  year  326  before  our  era.  We  too  much  forget  that 
it  was  on  his  part  a  notable  folly  to  venture  during 
the  hottest  months  of  the  year  on  the  burning  plains 
of  the  Pan  jab;  that  he  was  soon  forced  to  retire,  and  that 


126  GREEK  ORIGtN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  tYPE 

his  retreat  across  the  deserts  of  Gedrosia  (the  present  Be- 
luchistan)  ended  disastrously  —  so  that  this  expedition 
into  India,  if  only  we  replace  the  cold  by  the  heat,  the 
snow  by  the  sands,  was,  as  it  were,  the  Russian  cam- 
paign of  the  Macedonian  conqueror.  Much  more  fruitful  of 
results  was  the  constitution  of  the  Greek  kingdom  of  Bac- 
tria,  on  the  confines  of  the  north-west  of  India,  about  250 
B.  C,  in  open  revolt  against  the  Seleucides.  The  beautiful 
coin  of  Alexander,  son  of  PhiUp,  which  you  see  in  pi.  XIV,  2, 
was  struck  not  by  Alexander  himself,  but  in  imitation  of 
his  by  king  Agathokles,  whose  name  and  titles  you  read  on 
the  reverse,  encircling  the  image  of  Zeus.  Everything  in 
this  medal  is  still  purely  Greek. 

Fifty  years  later  Demetrios,  son  of  Euthydemos,  profit- 
ing by  the  break-up  of  the  empire  of  the  Mauryas,  con- 
quers and  annexes  the  whole  of  northern  India;  and 
immediately  you  see  in  that  helmet,  made  from  the 
head  of  an  elephant,  as  it  were  a  trace  of  the  Indian  orien- 
tation of  his  policy  (pi.  XIV,  2).  This  latter  must,  be- 
sides, have  ended  by  costing  him  his  original  kingdom.  An- 
other valiant  condottiere,  Eukratides,  rebelled  in  his  turn, 
and  made  himself  master  of  Bactria;  so  that,  as  Strabo  tells 
us,  there  remained  to  Demetrios  nothing  more  than  his 
Indian  conquests,  and  he  was  henceforward  known  under 
the  name  of  «  King  of  the  Indians  ».  This  is  a  capital  fact,  to 
which  I  could  not  too  strongly  draw  your  attention. 
During  a  century  and  more  the  Panjab  was  thus  a  Greek 
colony,  in  the  same  way  as  it  afterwards  became  Scythian, 
then  Mogul,  and  finally  EngUsh.  That  is  to  say,  a  handful 
of  foreigners,  supported  by  mercenary  troops,  in  great  part 
recruited  in  the  country  itself,  became  mastery  there,  and 
'  levied  the  taxes.  You  may  easily  perceive  that/this  kingdom 
was  a  centre  of  attraction  for  Greek  adventurers  of  all  kinds, 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  127 

beginning  with  soldiers  of  fortune  and  mountebanks,  and 
passing  by  way  of  merchants  to  the  artists  who  took 
upon  themselves,  among  other  tasks,  that  of  making  the 
superb  coins  to  which  we  are  indebted  for  the  survival 
of  the  classically  sounding  names  and  the  energetic  features 
of  those  so-called  «  Basileis  »,  changed  into  very  authentic 
rajahs.^^^ 

Of  all  these  Indo-Greek  kings  I  will  name  only  Menan- 
der  (pi.  XIV,  2),  since  he  is  known  to  us  not  merely  from 
the  narrative  of  Plutarch,  but  also  from  Indian  texts.  A 
curious   apologetic  treatise,  entitled  «  The  Questions  of 
Milinda  »  and  composed  as  a  dialogue  in  the  Platonic 
manner,  brings  before  us  in  the  town  of  Sagala  on  the 
one    hand    Hellenism,    represented   by  Menander,    the 
king  of  the  Yavanas  (lonians),  and.  on  the  other  hand 
Buddhism,  in  the  person  of  Nagasena,  one  of  the  pa- 
triarchs of  the  church.  According  to  native  tradition  the 
monk  even  converted  the  king.  However,  on  the  reverse  of 
his  coins,  Pallas  Athene  continues  still  to  brandish  the 
paternal  lightning  of  Zeus.  She  does  not  seem  in  any  way 
to  care  how  little  her  image  squares  with  the  exotic  sur- 
roundings of  the  language  and  the  writing  in   which 
Menander,  generalizing  a  usage  inaugurated  by  his  pre- 
decessors, is  always  careful  to  have  the  Greek  legend  of  the 
face  translated  for  the  use  of  his  Indian  subjects.  Never,  in 
truth,  were  the  circumstances  more  favourable  than  during 
his  reign  (between  150  and  100  B.  C.)  for  planting  the 
germ  of  the  whole  subsequent  development  of  Greco-Bud- 
dhist art  by  the  creation  of  the  Indo-Greek  type  of  Bud- 
dhayWhat,  iVfact,  is  that  beautiful  statue  which  I  showed 
yoii  just  now  (pi.  XI,  2),  but  an  Asiatic  coin  struck  in  Eu- 
ropean style  ?  And  what  more  simple  for  artists  initiated 
into  all  the  secrets  of  Hellenic  art,  as  were  the  authors  of 

10 


128  GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 

those  magnificent  medals,  than  to  adopt  for  the  representa- 
tion of  the  Indian  Saviour  the  most  intellectual  type  of  their 
beardless  Olympians?  Thus  we  arrive  quite  naturally  at 
the  strange  and  quaint  mixture  which  we  were  analysing 
a  short  time  ago,  at  this  statue,  which  is  a  Hellenized 
Buddha,  unless  you  prefer  to  describe  it  as  an  Indianized 
figure  of  Apolloj/^ 

Thus  must  nave  been  created  under  the  industrious 
fingers  of  some  Graeculus  of  more  or  less  mixed  descent  — 
and  perhaps,  also,  who  knows?  at  the  command  of  a  Greek 
or  an  Eurasian  convert  to  Buddhism  —  the   earliest  of 
the  images  of  Buddha.  Yet,  since  we  are  forced  to  touch 
upon  the  question  of  chronology,  it  is  only,  I  must  con- 
fess, in  the  first  century  of  our  era,  that  the  type  of  Buddha 
at  last  makes  its  appearance  on  the  reverse  of  the  coins. 
And  certainly  his  name  is  still  written  there  in  Greek  char- 
acters cc  Boddo  ».  But  on  the  observe,  instead  of  an  elegant 
Greek,  we  perceive  the  figure  of  another  invader,  of  a  beard- 
ed Scythian,  grotesquely  accoutred  in  his  high  boots  and 
the  rigid  basques  of  his  tunic  (pi.  XIV,  2).  His  name  is 
given  in  the  inscription  :  he  is  the  «  Shah  of  the  Shahs  » 
Kanishka,  he  who  was  after  Afoka  the  second  great  emperor 
of  the  Buddhist  legend,  and  whom  M.  S.  L^vi  has  in  his 
turn  so  well  surnamed  the  «  Clovis  »  of  northern  India  : 
for  he  also  —  either  from  conviction  or  from  calculation  — 
became  converted  to  the  religion  of  the  country  vanquished 
by  his  arms.  But,  just  as  the  Frank  Clovis  had  no  part  in 
the  development  of  Gallo-Roman  art,  you  may  easily  ima- 
gine that  the  Turk  Kanishka  had  no  direct  influence  on 
that  of  Indo-Greek  art;  and,  besides,  we  hold  now  the  certain 
proof  that  during  his  reign  this  art  was  already  stereotyped, 
if  not  decadent. 

All  the  Chinese  Buddhist  pilgrims  who  from  the  IV"'  to 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  129 

the  X*''  centuries  of  our  era  visited  the  holy  places  of  India 
agree,  in  fact,  in  testifying,  that  Kanishka  had  built  by  the 
side  of  his  winter  capital  Purushapura  «  the  highest  pagoda 
of  the  country  ».  Now  in  the  course  of  my  journey  on  the 
Indo-Afghan  frontier,  on  the  21"  of  January  1897,  among 
the  numerous  tumuli  —  simple  refuse  of  brick  kilns  or  ves- 
tiges of  ancient  monuments  —  which  are  scattered  over 
the  flat  outskirts  of  Peshawar,  I  thought  I  recognized  in  one 
(pi.  XIV,  i),  by  reason  of  its  site,  its  form,  its  composition, 
its  surroundings,  finally  of  a  number  of  concordant  indica- 
tions —  not  to  count  that  secret  voice  of  things,  which  soon 
whispers  to  the  heart  of  the  archaeologist  — ,  the  remains 
of  the  great  religious  foundation  of  Kanishka.  That  dusty 
mound,  which,  if  in  circumference  it  measured  three  hun-. 
dred  metres,  was  not  more  than  4  or  3  metres  above  the 
present  ground  surface,  did  not  look  very  promising.  How- 
ever, when  the  Anglo-Indian  government  did  at  last  reorgan- 
ize its  archaeological  service,  Messrs.  Marshall  and  Spooner 
were  pleased  to  consider  that  the  proposed  identification 
was  at  least  worth  the  trouble  of  verification  by  digging. 
The  results  of  the  first  campaign,  during  the    cold  sea- 
son   1 907-1 908,   were  most  disappointing.  Fortunately 
the  English  archaeologists  were  not  discouraged ;  in  March 
1909  they  at  last  determined  the  dimensions  of  the  base  of 
the  sanctuary  —  the  vastest,  indeed,  that  has  ever  been  dis- 
covered in  India  —  and  soon  they  were  fortunate  enough 
to  unearth  in  the  centre  the  famous  relics  of  Buddha,  which 
Chinese   evidence  assures    us  were  deposited   there  by 
Kanishka  himself,  and  which  to-day  Burmah  is  so  proud  of 
possessing.  They  were  enclosed  in  a  golden  reliquary,  about 
18  centimetres  high,  of  which  you  have  before  your  eyes 
(pi.  XV,  i)  a  view.  All  that  I  wish  to  take  note  of  here  is 
first,  that  this  box  does  in  fact  bear  in  dotted  letters  the 


130  GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 

name,  and  in  repoussd  the  image,  of  our  Kaiiishka,  the  one 
perfectly  legible  and  the  other  a  good  resemblance.  Now,  in 
point  of  execution  the  reliquary  already  betrays  signs  of 
artistic  decadence  ;  and  this  stylization  is  especially  notable 
in  the  Buddha  whom  you  see  seated  between  two  standing 
divinities  on  the  top  of  the  Hd.  This  votive  document  is 
sufficient,  then,  to  carry  back  at  least  a  hundred  years,  and 
consequently,  to  the  i"  century  before  our  era,  at  the  latest, 
the  creation  of  the  plastic  type  of  the  Blessed  One. 


Ill 


Thus,  then,  we  are  on  the  whole  well  informed  as  to  the 
where  and  when,  from  the  rencontre  of  the  two  inverse  expan- 
sions, that  of  Hellenism  towards  the  east  consequent  upon 
the  political  conquests  of  Alexander,  and  that  of  Buddhism 
towards  the  west  by  favour  of  the  religious  missions  of 
Agoka,  was  born  once  for  all  the  Indo-Greek  type  of 
Buddha.  Our  geographical  and  historical  quest  may,  there- 
fore, be  considered  as  ended.  But  we  have  as  yet  accom- 
plished only  two-thirds  of  our  task,  and  the  iconographic 
question  awaits  almost  in  its  entirety  an  elucidation.  We 
have  indeed  from  the  first  glance  at  the  Museum  at  La- 
hore seen  that,  in  opposition  to  the  old  native  school,  the 
image  of  Buddha  is  like  a  trade-mark  of  the  workshops  of 
Gandhara.  It  remains  to  learn  ho:w  it  was  itself  manufac- 
tured. We  are  agreed  that  at  the  time  of  its  composition  the 
Indian  material  was  poured  into  a  western  mould  :  among 
all  the  possible  results  of  this  operation,  which  one  defini- 
tely emerged  from  the  foundry?  This  we  have  still  to 
analyse,  at  the  risk  of  passing  from  one  surprise  to  ano- 
ther. 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  131 

What  in  fact  did  I  tell  you?  Here  is  a  creation  which  the 
experience  of  centuries  and  the  exploration  of  Asia  have 
taught  us  to  regard  as  one  of  the  most  widespread  and  the 
most  durable  successes  that  the  history  of  art  has  ever 
chronicled.  It  is  proved  to  have  been  adopted  with  enthu- 
siasm by  the  entire  Buddhist  world ;  it  was,  and  has  remain- 
ed, for  the  faithful  the  sole  manner  of  conceiving  and 
figuring  the  Master...  And  yet  we  cannot  hide  the  fact  that, 
if  from  the  beginning  the  people  must  have  felt  the  attrac- 
tive charm  of  its  ideal  and  serene  beauty,  it  must  at  its  first 
appearance  have  been  the  object  of  just  and  bitter  criticisms 
on  the  part  of  the  old  champions  of  orthodoxy.  To-day 
even,  if  we,  Buddhists  or  students  of  Buddhism,  could  free 
ourselves  from  long  custom  and  create  for  ourselves  new 
eyes,  we  should  be  the  first  to  be  shocked  by  the  ambi- 
guous character  of  the  Gandhara  type  of  Buddha.  For  in 
fact,  what  is  it  that  Buddhist  scriptures  are  never  tired  of 
repeating?  It  is  not  we,  it  is  tradition  which  poses  for 
the  new-born  Bodhisatwa  the  famous  dilemma  :  «  Either 
thou  wilt  remain  in  the  world  and  reign  over  the  uni- 
verse; or  else  thou  wilt  enter  into  religion  and  become 
a  Saviour  of  the  world  » .  We  all  know  that  the  second  alter- 
native was  the  one  realized.  Now  what  do  we  see  here 
(pi.  XI,2)?/This  person  is  not  a  prince,  for  he  wears  neither 
the  costume  nor  the  jewels  of  one;  but  how  could  one 
maintain  that  he  is  a  real  Buddhist  monk,  since  his  head  is 
not  shaven?  If  he  were  a  bhikshu,  he  would  not  have  retain- 
ed his  hair  :  if  he  were  a  cakravartin,  he  would  not  have 
donned  the  monastic  gown.  A  monk  without  tonsure  or  ' 
a  king  without  jewels,  decidedly  these  strange  images,  from 
whichever  side  one  approaches  them,  are  frankly  neither 
flesh  nor  fish/From  the  artistic  point  of  view  we  have 
already   seen  that,  properly  speaking,  they  were  neither 


132  GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 

Greek  nor  Indian ;  from  the  iconographic  point  of  view  we 
must  admit  that  they  are  neither  cleric  nor  layman,  but 
still  and  always  a  hybrid  combination  of  two  heteroclite 
elements. 

Shall  we  lean  over  the  crucible  in  which  the  formula  of 
this  new  compromise  was  elaborated,  and  try  to  reconstit- 
ute from  the  monuments  themselves  how  things  happen- 
ed? Let  us  take  the  princely  heir  of  the  ^akyas  (pi.  XV,  2) 
at  the  critical  moment  when  he  is  realizing  his  religious 
vocation.  The  moral  crisis  which  has  just  cast  him  out  of 
the  world,  and,  as  a  beginning,  has  made  him  flee  by  night 
from  his  native  town,  must,  in  fact,  be  translated  occularly 
by  a  complete  transformation  of  his  exterior  aspect.  Now 
we  read,  and  we  see,  that  on  the  dawn  of  his  escape,  judging 
himself  beyond  capture,  he  stops  and  sends  back  horse  and 
squire.  At  the  same  time  he  charges  the  latter  to  carry 
back  to  his  home  all  his  princely  jewels,  including  the 
rich  turban  which  encircled  his  long  hair,  gathered  up  in 
a  chignon  on  the  top  of  the  crown.  Thus  he  appears  to  us, 
his  head  bare  and  already  in  the  act  of  changing  his  silken 
clothes,  which  are  no  longer  suitable  to  his  new  state,  for 
the  coarse  garment  of  a  hunter.  In  all  these  details  the  figur- 
ed tradition  conforms  with  a  good  grace  to  the  written. 
There  is  only  one  point  on  which  the  Indo-Greek  artists 
have  shown  themselves  intractable.  At  that  instant  all  the 
texts  will  have  it  that  the  Bodhisattva  himself  with  his 
sword  cut  off  his  hair :  but  to  this  last  exigency  of  Indian 
custom  the  school  of  Gandhara  has  never  given  its  consent. 
Whether  it  represents  the  Master  at  the  height  of  his 
ascetic  macerations,  or  whether  it  shows  him  in  all  his 
splendour,  at  the  moment  when  he  has  just  attained  to 
Illumination,  his  chignon  continues  to  remain  such  as  it 
was  before  his  entrance  into  religion.  When  at  last  he 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  133 

begins  to  convert  his  first  disciples,  there  is  only  the  more 
striking  contrast  between  his  wavy  hair  and  the  shorn  crowns 
of  his  bhikshus :  for  these  latter,  evidently  sketched  from  life, 
wear  the  full  tonsure,  exactly  like  the  bonzes  of  the  pre- 
sent day.  Accordingly,  we  may  say  that  by  systematically 
refusing  in  the  case  of  the  Blessed  One  to  complete  the 
expected  transmutation  of  layman  into  monk,  the  Gandhara 
sculptors  have  not  only  put  themselves  in  intended  contra- 
diction to  the  sacred  writings  :  they  have  also  obstinately 
closed  their  eyes  to  the  data  supphed  by  the  direct  observa- 
tion of  a  number  of  their  own  clients. 

Visit  afresh  the  collections,  or  turn  over  at  your  leisure 
the  reproductions,  of  Greco-Buddhist  bas-reliefs.  The  sole 
distinction  between  the  Bodhisattva,  or  any  other  great  lay 
person,  and  Buddha  consists  in  this,  that  the  latter  appears 
without  jewels  and  draped  to  the  neck  in  the  monastic 
gown.  On  the  other  hand,  the  only  characteristic  difference 
between  the  Master  and  the  monks  of  his  order  lies  in  the 
privilege,  which  he  alone  enjoys,  of  retaining  his  hair. 
At  this  point  the  recipe  for  fabricating  a  Buddha  after  the 
mode  of  Gamihara  presents  itself  spontaneously  to  you 
(pi .  XVI,  I  VYou  take  the  body  of  a  monk,  and  surmount  it 
with  the  head  of  a  king  (or  what  in  India  comes  to  the  same 
thing,  a  god),  after  having  first  stripped  it  of  turban  and 
earrings.  These  are  the  two  necessary  and  sufficing  ingre- 
dients of  this  curious  synthesis;  and  you  divine  immediately 
the  advantages  of  this  procedure.  Were  it  not  for  the  head, 
confusion  with  any  other  monk  would  be  almost  inevitable : 
and  this  simple  consideration  may  help  to  explain  why  the 
ancient  native  school  abstained  from  representing  the 
disciples  as  well  as  the  Master  (').  On  the  other  hand,  were 


(i)  See  above,  p.  76. 


134  GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 

it  not  for  the  monastic  cloak,  you  might  be  a  little  puzzled 
to  distinguish  the  Perfect  Buddha  from  the  future  Buddha, 
whenever  the  second  is  shown  without  a  headdress,  or 
even  when  the  lips  of  the  former  continue  to  wear  that 
little  moustache  which  you  still  find  on  the  remote  Japan- 
ese images.  But  join  together  the  two  elements,  however 
incongruous,  a  layman's  head  on  the  body  of  a  cleric  :  and 
this  combination  will  at  once  give  you  an  individuality  suf- 
ficiently marked  to  answer  all  the  practical  needs  of  icono- 
graphv/*rhe  result  has  shown  it  well. 


But,  however  complex  the  Indo-Greek  type  of  Buddha 
may  be,  you  doubtless  consider  that  we  have  examined 
and  dissected  it  more  than  sufficiently  for  to-day;  and  you 
tremble  to  perceive  the  endless  conclusions  which  we 
might  at  once  draw  from  this  analysis,  however  superficial 
and  summary.  First  of  all,  it  would  be  sufficient  to  prove, 
even  if  history  did  not  so  state,  that  this  type  was  created 
as  an  afterthought  and,  let  us  say,  de  chic,  by  strangers  more ' 
artists  than  theologians,  more  soHcitous  for  esthetics 
than  for  orthodoxy.  I  would  go  further  :  Not  only  at  the 
moment  of  its  conception  had  the  face  of  the  Master  long 
been  blurred  in  the  mists  of  the  past,  and  all  precise  icono- 
graphic  data  concerning  him  been  lost;  but  among  the 
vapours  of  incense  which  the  worship  of  posterity  caused 
to  mount  towards  his  memory,  while  waiting  for  the  latter 
to  be  materialized  in  his  image,  he  had  already  assumed 
a  superhuman  and,  as  is  written,  a  «  supernatural))  Qokot- 
tara)  character.  At  least,  we  could  scarcely  otherwise 
explain  the  success  of  that  stroke  of  audacity  whereby  the 
school  of  Gandhara  assigned  to  him  from  the  beginning  a 
special  physionomy,  derived  from,  and  at  the  same  time 
remaining  at  an  equal  distance  from,  that  of  a  monk  and 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  135 

that  of  a  god.  It  results,  further,  that  this  type  issues  from 
the  fusion  of  a  double  ideal,  that  of  the  Greek  Olympian 
and  that  of  the  Mahdpurusha,  or  Indian  «  Great  Man  »,  with 
no  borrowing  from  living  reality,  if  we  except  the  detail 
of  the  distended  lobe  of  the  ears.  And  this  would  to 
some  extent  excuse  the  defect  that  many  of  these  images 
are  not  exempt  from  some  academic  frigidity.  Finally,  we 
comprehend  the  reason  for  the  retouches  which  later  gener- 
ations thought  it  necessary  to  apply,  notably  as  concerns 
the  hair.  We  can  even  see  in  how  mechanical  a  manner 
through  uniformly  covering  bandeau  and  chignon  with  the 
short  traditional  curls,  their  want  of  skill  has  suddenly 
caused  to  stand  out  on  the  top  of  the  crown  the  boss  called 

ushnisha,  a  word  which  formerly  meant  only  headdress 

And  this  is  not  yet  all  :  what  should  I  not  have  to  tell 
you  concerning  the  diffusion  in  India  and  the  Far  East  of 
the  idolatrous  worship  of  Buddha,  parallel  to  that  of  the 
images !  But  reassure  yourselves  :  sufficient  for  each  hour 
its  subject,  and  I  will  not  further  abuse  your  patience. 
Moreover,  as  we  remarked  at  the  beginning,  nothing  is 
easier  than  to  see  how  much  better  preserved  —  or,  if  you 
prefer,  less  deformed  —  at  all  times  and  in  all  places  was 
the  face  of  the  Blessed  One  than  his  doctrine.  I  shall 
not,  therefore,  insist  to-day  on  the  conquest  of  upper 
and  lower  Asia  by  this  irresistible  propagator  of  the  Indo- 
Greek  school  of  Gandhara.  But  you  would  not  forgive  me, 
if  I  did  not  show  in  conclusion  how  this  Buddhist  school 
finds  itself  by  its  origins  in  contact  with  our  Christian  art. 
A.ook  at  these  two  statues  (pi.  XVI,  2);  the  one  represents 
/Christ,  and  the  other  Buddha.  The  one  was  taken  from  a 
sarcophagus  from  Asia  Minor,  and  is  to-day  to  be  found  in 
Berlin;  the  other  comes  from  a  ruined  temple  in  Gandhara, 
and  is  at  present  in  Lahore.  Bo^h,  with  the  pose  of  the  right 


136  GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 

arm  similarly  draped  in  their  mantles,  are  direct  descen- 
dants of  a  common  ancestor,  the  beautiful  Greek  statue  of 
the  Lateran  Museum,  called  the  Orator,  in  which  we  have 
long  recognized  a  Sophocles.  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that, 
plastically  speaking,  they  are  cousins-german.  The  one  is  a 
Greco-Christian  Christ;  the  other  is  a  Greco-Buddhist 
Buddha.  Both  are,  by  the  same  right,  a  legacy  left  in  extre- 
mis to  the  old  world  by  the  expiring  Greek  arty^ 

After  this  last  experience  it  will,  doubtless,  seem  to  you 
proved  that  this  figure  of  Buddha,  which,  smiHng  at  us 
from  the  depths  of  the  Far  East,  represents  for  us  the  cul- 
mination of  what  is  exotic,  nevertheless  came  originally 
from  a  Hellenistic  studio.  Such,  at  least,  is  the  truth  to-day 
—  I  mean  the  conclusion  arising  from  the  documents  at 
present  known  —  and  such,  at  the  point  at  which  archaeo- 
logical researches  have  arrived,  will  probably  be  the  truth 
to-morrow.  Must  we  be  glad  or  sorry  for  this  ?  Facts  are 
facts,  and  the  wisest  thing  is  to  take  them  as  they  come.  It 
was  recently  still  the  custom  to  triumph  noisily  over  the 
artistic  inferiority  of  the  Indians,  reduced  to  accepting 
ready  made  from  the  hands  of  others  the  concrete  realiza- 
tion of  their  own  religious  ideal.  At  present,  owing  to  aesthe- 
tic bias  or  to  nationalist  rancour,  it  is  the  fashion  to  make 
the  school  of  Gandhara  pay  for  its  manifest  superiority  by 
a  systematic  blackening  of  its  noblest  production.  We  for 
our  part  refuse  in  this  connection  to  share  either  the  unjusti- 
fiable contempt  of  the  old  criticism  for  native  inspiration, 
or  the  ill-disguised  spite  of  the  new  against  the  foreign 
make.   It  is  not  the  father  or  the  mother  who  has  formed 
the  child ;  it  is  the  father  and  the  mother.  The  Indian  mind 
has  taken  a  part  no  less  essential  than  has  Greek  genius  in 
the  elaboration  of  the  model  of  the  Monk-God.  It  is  a  case 
where  the  East  and  the  West  could  have  done  nothing 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE  137 

without  each  other.  It  would  be  childish  to  associate  our- 
selves, in  a  partizan  spirit  and  turnabout,  with  the  exaltation 
or  the  contempt,  whether  of  Europe  or  of  Asia,  when  so 
fine  an  opportunity  offers  for  saluting  in  the  Eurasian  pro- 
totype of  Buddha  one  of  the  most  sublime  creations  where- 
with their  collaboration  has  enriched  humanity. 


O        . 


s>«-t: 


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w    E    O 

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u   l=Q   .2   H 

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GREEK    ORIGIN    OF   THE    BUDDHA    TYPE 


PL.  XI 


ID 

w 

CO 
ID 


o 

< 

w 

X 


<: 
p 

Q 
ID 

m 


-'«V 


PLATE  XII 

Cf.  pp.   121,  123,    124. 


I.  An  engraving  botro'wei  from  Sur  la  frontiire  indo-afghane  (Paris, 
Hachette  et  C'=,  1901,  fig.  11 ;  cf.  Tour  du  monde,  Nov.  1899,  p.  543)  ; 
executed  from  the  author's  photographs.  On  the  left,  beyond  the 
ploughed  land,  is  seen  the  village  of  Shihbiz-Garhi.  In  the  background 
rises  the  hill  of  Mekha-Sandha,  once  sanctified  by  the  legend  of  prince 
Vi^vantara  (cf.  ibid.,  p.  55  ;  Notes  sur  la  giogrdphie  ancienne  du  Gan- 
dhdra,  in  5.  £.  F.  E.-O.,  I,  1901,  pp.  347-59;  and  above,  p.  123). 
Q.aite  to  the  right  stands  the  rugged  hill-side,  on  which  is  still  to  be 
found  the  inscription  of  A^oka  (cf.  p.  121). 

II.  A  photograph  taken  by  the  Archaeological  Survey  and  placed  at 
our  disposal  by  Dr.  J.  Ph.  Vogel  (cf.  p.  124).  In  the  foreground  we 
see  the  central  spur,  on  which  stands  the  principal  monastery  :  the 
view  extends  towards  the  north-east  above  the  hills  of  the  little  range  of 
Takht-i-Bahai  as  far  as  the  Sw4t  mountains.  For  other  views  of  the 
same  site  cf.  Sur  la  frontiere  indo-afghane,  fig.  14,  or  Tour  du  monde, 
ibid  ,  p.  545,  and  Art  g.-b.  du  Gandh  ,  figg.  i  and  63-4  (with  plan 
and  description  of  the  buildings,  pp.  160-163). 


GREEK    ORIGIN    OE   THE    13UDDHA    TYPE 


PL,  XII 


1.       -    THE    VILLAGE    OF    SHAHBAZ-GARHI 


THE    RUINS    OF    TAKHTT-BAHAI 


PLATE  XIII 

Cf.  p.   124. 


I.  — AnengTzvinghorro-wedfvomSur lafrontiireindo-afghane, fig.  15  , 
(or  Tour  du  monde,  Nov.  1899,  p.  544)  ;  after  a  photograph  taken  by  the 
author.  The  eminence,  increased  in  height  by  the  slow  accumulation 
of  the  dust  of  the  past,  is  still  surrounded  by  a  magnificent  wall,  now 
buried  in  the  earth.  The  people  of  the  country  continue  to  maintain  a 
connection  between  the  village  and  the  hill  of  Takht-i-Bahai,  situated 
at  a  distance  of  less  than  a  league  to  the  north,  which  would  represent 
respectively  the  capital  and  the  «  throne  »  of  one  and  the  same  rijah 
(cf.  p.  124). 

II.  —  An  Archasological  Survey  photograh,  communicated  by  Dr.  J. 
Ph.  VoGEL,  representing  a  corner  of  the  recent  excavations  of  Dr.  D.  B. 
Spooner  in  one  of  the  neighbouring  tumuli  of  Sahri-Bahlol(cf.  p.  124). 
These  excavations  have  been  described  by  their  author  in  the  Archxolog- 
ical  Survey  of  India,  Annual  Report,  i^o6'j,  pp.  102 -118.  For  previous 
explorations  of  the  same  district  see  H.  W.  Bellew,  General  Report  on 
the  Euxuf^^ai  (Lahore,  1864)  and  Punjab  G.tielteer,  Peshawar  District 
(1897-1898),  pp.  46  sqq. ;  for  the  more  modern  researches  (1912)  of 
Sir  Aurel  Stein  see,  on  the  other  iund,  Annual  Report  of  the  Archseolog  - 
ical  Survey  of  India,  Frontier  Circle,  1911-12  (Peshawar,  1912,  with 
map). 


GREEK  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BUDDHA  TYPE 


PL.  XIII 


THE    VILLAGE    OF    SAHRI-BAHLOL 


2.    —   EXCAVATIONS    NEAR    SAHRI-BAHLOL 


PLATE  XIV 
Cf.  pp.  126-129. 


I .  —  An  e  ngraving  borrowed  from  Sur  la  frontUre  indo-afghane,  fig.  40, 
(or  Tour  du  Monde,  nov.  1899,  p.  556).  The  identification  of  this  tumu- 
lus with  the  «  Pagoda  of  Kanishka  »  (cf.  above,  p.  129)  was  first  devel- 
oped in  our  Notes  sur  la  geographie  ancienne  du  Gandhdra  {B.  £.  F. 
£.-0.,  I,  1901,  pp.  329-333,  with  maps).  Of  the  excavations  by  which 
it  was  verified  an  account  has  been  given  by  Dr.  D.  B.  Spooner  in  Ar- 
chxological  Survey  of  India,  Annual  Report,  1908-9,  pp-  38-59. 

II.  — The  four  coins  reproduced  are  borrowed  from  the  Catalogue  of 
Indian  Coins  in  the  British  Museum,  The  Coins  of  the  Greek  and  Scythic 
Kings  of  Bactria  and  India,  by  Percy  Gardner  (London,  1886),  pll.  IV, 
I ;  II,  9  ;  XI,  7  ;  XXVI,  8  :  a.  Head  of  «  Alexander,  son  of  Phihp  », 
wearing  a  lion's  skin,  like  Heracles;  on  the  reverse,  mention  of  the 
«  reigning  king,  Agathokles  the  just  »,  inscribed  round  a  Zeus  seated 
on  a  throne  with  a  back,  holding  in  his  raised  left  hand  the  long  sceptre 
and  on  his  extended  right  hand  the  eagle  (cf.  p.  126).  —  b.  Head  of  a 
king,  wearing  a  diadem  and  a  helmet  in  the  form  of  an  elephant's 
head;  on  the  reverse,  mention  of  «  King  Demetrios  »,  inscribed  on 
both  sides  of  a  standing  Heracles,  bearing  in  his  left  hand  the  club  and 
the  lion's  skin  and  with  the  right  hand  crowning  himself  with  an  ivy- 
wreath  (cf.  p.  126).  —  c.  Diademed  head  of  the  «  Saviour  King 
Menander  »  ;  on  the  reverse,  Pallas  Athene,  bearing  the  aegis  and  hurl- 
ing the  thunderbolt  :  round  her  the  same  inscription,  but  this  time 
in  the  Indian  alphabet  and  language  of  the  north-west  (cf.  p.  127).  — 
d.  Full-length  portrait  of  the«  Shah  of  Shahs,  Kanishka  the  Kushan  »; 
spear  in  the  left  hand,  the  right  extended  above  a  pyre ;  on  the  reverse, 
a  standing  Buddha,  having  an  aureole  and  a  nimbus  (cf.  p.  128). 


CREEK    ORIGIN    OF   THE    BUDDHA    TYPE 


PL^  XIV 


1.  SHAH-Ji-Ki-DHERI    (KANISHKA    STUPA) 


INDO-GREEK    AND    INDO-SCYTHIC    GOINS 


PLATE  XV 

Cf.  pp.  129-132. 


CO  „■ 


u 


o,  « 


-  -T3 

OS    u     „ 
I     'O     u 
00      G    _D 
O     rt 
OS    O-  _•■ 

-13 


3 

c75 


J3 


o 

113     to 
n 


<u 


^    o 


3     « 

O     K^ 

o  ,  ■ 


J3 


1)  -O      U 

^  Si  -^ 

a  '^  V 

"^  Ji  ^ 

U    V  o 

M    O 
1) 


o 


Jl 


-^   ^ 
^   -^ 

s  ■« 


-b  C3  -T3 


p,  <rt 

3  J2 


3 
00 

u 

_o 
o 

u 

<: 


c 

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*-* 

u 

3 
O 

a. 


3 


u 

rt 
v^ 
O 
u 
u 
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CQ 

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T3     m'^  2  '" 

^     g     M.^  J. 

-71     C  C  J3 

3   ij-i   •—  «  *-" 

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a  js  -^  u-i 

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o 


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CO      ^      S 

1)     C  JS 

u  — ^  t: 


g.  2 
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G  "  3 

u  in  <o 

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> 

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Kp  — '  S 


^    -3 

3 
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rt 


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rt  - — • 

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> 

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3     S 


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B^ 

to  4-1 

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tn  a> 

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3     (J     O     n     3 


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tn  3 

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— <   o 

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O     rt     - 


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u  C 
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O     " 


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in     3 

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■^    o 

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-3 


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a  -^ 

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D. 


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a   V. 

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la  ■< 


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3    3 


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1-1 

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tn 


3 
u 
en 
1> 

u 


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1) 

l-H     -3 


—  _  CO 

3  <J  a  -Si 

J3  to  -^    '^ 

'•H  ;2  -^  ^ 

^'  J  -S  -^  -  -^ 


^  ^  ^:S  :3  ;s  -s 

o  ;S  -g    ^  -S  ^  o 


GREEK    ORTGIN    OF    THE    BUDDHA    TYPE 


PL    XV 


PLATE  XVI 
Cf.  pp.  133-136. 


I.  —The  type  of  Bodhisattva  and  that  of  Buddha  are  borrowed  from 
a  frieze  in  the  museum  of  the  Louvre  (cf  Art  g.-b.du  Gandh.,  fig.  134)  ; 
ih.tofthe  monk  from  a  bas-relief  in  the  British  Museum.  For  the 
reason  of  their  being  placed  together  cf.  pp.  133-134. 

II.  —  The  image  of  Christ  is  reproduced  from  a  plate  in  Professor 
SxRzrGowsKi's  Orient  oder  Rom  ;  let  us  not  omit  to  confess  that  it  has 
been  art  fi:ially  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the  sarcophagus.  In  contrast 
to  its  slender  figure  the  image  of  Buddha  (no.  527  of  the  Lahore 
Museum;  height  m.  0,60)  is  noticeably  squat.  The  gesture  of  the 
left  arm  we  shall  find  again  in  the  Buddha  of  this  same  plate  XVI,  i, 
and  in  ihe  sixth  of  the  seven  which  are  ranged  on  the  base  of  plate 
XXVI,  I .  For  comparison  the  Sophocles  of  the  Lateran  museum  may 
be  found  reproduced  in  most  manuals  of  classical  archaeology.  (Cf. 
pp.  135-136). 


GREEK    ORIGIN    OE   THE    P.IIDDHA    TYPE 


PL    XVI 


^^M 


1.    TYPES  OE  BODHISATTVA,  BUDDHA  AND  MONK 


*^#*?)'"5»»  l^ifWWWfB 


2.       GR^CO-GHRISTIAN  GHRIST  AND  GR/EGO-BUDDHIST  BUDDHA 


The  Tutelary  Pair 
in  Gaul  and  in  India  (') 


When  turning  over  the  leaves  of  the  monumental  and 
valuable  Recueil  des  bas-reliefs,  statues  et  busies  de  la  Gaule 
romaine  of  M.  Esp^randieu,  we  see  again  and  again  a 
figure  usually  entitled  «  Abundance  »  or  «  Goddess  Mo- 
ther ».  Rare  in  Provence,  where  apparently  it  is  better  con- 
cealed under  the  purely  classical  features  of  Demeter  and 
Fortune,  it  shows  itself  from  time  to  time  in  Aquitaine 
with  an  appearance  already  more  indigenous ;  then  multi- 
plying itself,  it  passes  into  «  Lyonnaise  »,  where  we  have 
counted  it  no  less  than  forty  times  (vols.  III-IV)  :  the  se- 
quel of  the  publication  will  tell  us  whether  it  enjoyed  the 
same  favour  in  Belgian  Gaul.  Its  most  usual  type,  very 
close  to  that  of  the  pullulant  Matres,  holds  in  the  left  hand 
a  horn  of  abundance,  and  in  the  right  a  patera.  In  no. 
3225  (Langres)  we  see  moreover  on  either  side  of  the  god- 
dess two  little  genii,  one  of  whom  «  dips  into  a  purse  plac- 
ed between  her  feet  ».  If  it  is  not  she,  then  it  is  one  of  her 
sisters,  who  elsewhere  is  represented  with  a  child  in  her 
arms,  like  aMadonna(nos.  1326-1334,  Saintes),  orwith  a 
sack  on  her  knees,  from  which  drop  coins  (no.  1367, 
Ruffec).  At  times  fruits  are  also  placed  actually  on  the  lap 
of  the  goddess  (nos.  2350,  Mont  Auxois  ;  3237,  Langres). 
Lastly,the patera  is  occasionally  replaced  by  acake (nos.  1528, 


(i)  Revue  archdokgique,  1912,  II,  pp.  341-9' 


140  THE  TUTELARY  PAIR  IN  GAUL  AND  IN  INDIA 

Bourges),  or,  in  the  more  debased  pieces,  by  a  goblet  of 
the  special  form  called  an  o//a  (nos.  1161,  Puy-de-D6me; 
21 12,  Beaune).  These  last  attributes   seem  to  be  only 
borrowings  from  another  Gallic  divinity,  or  rather  two 
others  who  are  masculine  and  likewise  of  frequent  occur- 
ence. Their  usual  attributes  are  the  olla  and  the  purse, 
often  difficuh  to  distinguish  from  one  another ;  but  local 
and  barbarous  variants  represent  them  as  holding  Hkewise 
the  cake  and  the  sack  of  money  (no.  1555,  La  Guerche, 
Cher),  or  even  a  child  (no.  2882,  Auxerre),  when  they  do 
not  in  their  turn  borrow  the  patera  full  of  fruits  (no.  2263, 
Entrains)  or  the  horn  of  abundance  (nos.  2 1 62,  Macon ;  2 1 66, 
Chalon-sur-Saone).  One  of  the  types  is  bearded  like  Jupiter, 
whose  long  sceptre  it  replaces,  as  we  know,  by  the  handle 
of  a  mallet.  The  other,  beardless,  most  often  hides  his  per- 
sonality under  the  figure  of  Mercury.  The  intimate  rela- 
tionship   of  both    with  the   goddess,  or   goddesses,  of 
«  Abundance  »  is  certain  :  for  a  proof  we  require  only  the 
numerous  groups  in  which  they  appear  in  company,  stand- 
ing on  the  same  stele  or  seated  side  by  side  on  the  same 
seat.  Some  represent  the  god  without  a  beard,  and  indi- 
cate clearly  —  from  the  wings  on  his  feet  up  to  the  peta- 
sus,  taking  the  caduceus  en  route  —  his  assimilation  to 
Mercury  (nos.  1800,  Fleurieu-sur-Saone  ;  1836,  Autun),  or 
give  him   the  appearance  of  a  «  local  Mars  »  (no.  1832, 
Autun).  The  majority  resort  to  the  model  of  the  bearded 
god  with  a  mallet  (nos.  2066,  Nuits;  3441,  Dijon  etc.). 
Often  they  assign  to  the  husband,  as  mark  of  office,  the 
same  horn  of  abundance  as  to  his  companion,  unless  they 
lend  to  the  latter  the  purse  (no.  3382,  Chatillon-sur-Seine), 
or  make  both  place  their  hands  on  the  same  olla  (no.  21 18, 
Beaune).   In   one   case  a  child  is  playing  at  their  feet 
(no.  1830,  Autun).  For  the  necessities  of  our  case  we  will 


THE  TUTELARY  PAIR  IN  GAUL  AND  IN  INDIA  141 

restrict  ourselves  to  borrowing  from  M.  Esp^randieu's  col- 
lection an  almost  complete  specimen  of  each  of  the  two 
principal  variants  of  the  subject  (pi.  XVII,  i  and  2)  ('). 

No  one  expects  from  an  Indianist  that  he  shall  under- 
take more  closely  to  identify  Gallo-Roman  divinities  or  even 
to  distinguish  very  carefully  between  them ;  but  perhaps 
he  may  be  allowed  to  point  out  the  existence,  on  the  oppo- 
site confines  of  the  world  known  to  the  ancients,  of  per- 
fectly analogous  figures  and  even  groups  (pi.  XVIII,  i  and 
2).  As  far  as  one  can  judge  of  the  popularity  of  gods  by 
the  always  fortuitous  result  of  excavations,  this  divine  pair 
was  in  Gandhara  no  less  in  vogue  than  in  Lyonnaise ;  but 
there  we  possess  more  precise  information  concerning 
it.  The  Buddhist  community  showed  itself  more  recep- 
tive to  popular  superstitions  than  the  Christian  clergy.  It 
assigned  a  place  in  its  convents,  and  dedicated  passages  of 
its  scriptures,  to  this  conjugal  association  of  the  fairy  with 
the  children  and  the  genius  with  the  purse  :  for,  after  all, 
they  are  only  demi-gods  of  fairly  low  extraction,  created 
for  the  use  of  the  middle  classes,  and  on  a  level  with  them.  In 
the  man  it  has  long  been  proposed  to  recognise  Kuvera, 
the  «  King  of  the  Spirits  »  (*) ;  but  the  texts  merely  desi- 
gnate him  as  their  «  general  » ,  by  his  name  Pancika,  and  it 
is  in  virtue  of  this  title  that  he  is  nearly  always  leaning  upon 
a  lance.  These  Yakshas  of  India,  like  the  dwarfs  of  our 
mythologies,  are  essentially  guardians  of  treasures;  and 
doubtless  this   is   how  Pancika  must  have  commenced 


(i)  In  addition  to  the  specimens  represented  or  quoted  in  the  texts,  see 
also  nos.  1564,  1573, 1828, 1837,  1849,  2129,  2249,2252-2253,  2255-2256, 
2271,  2313,  2334,  2353,  2878-2881,  2911,  etc.  It  seems  that  the  same  two 
gods  are  again  found  in  the  company  of  the  same  goddess  on  the  «  triades  » 
of  nos.  21 31  (Autnn)  and  2357  (Asile-Sainte-Reine). 

(2)  Cf.  Dr.  J.  Ph.  VoGEL,  Note  sur  une  statue  du  Gandhara,  in  B.  E.  F. 
E.-O.,  Ill,  1903. 


142  THE  TUTELARY  PAIR  IN  GAUL  AND  IN  INDIA 

his  career;  but  the  «  purse  of  gold  »,  which  he  holds  in 
his  right  hand,  would  sufficiently  prove,  even  if  we  were 
not  expressly  told,  that  he  had  already  transformed  him- 
self from  a  jealous  gaoler  into  a  generous  dispenser  of 
riches.  Whilst  the  miserly  demon  was  thus  changing  into  a 
liberal  geniu"^,  his  wife  Hariti  was  undergoing  a  parallel 
evolution,  and  from  an  ogress  was  becoming  a  matron. 
Originally  she  personified  some  terrible  infantile  epidemic; 
and,    although   herself  a   mother  of  five  hundred   little 
elves,  she  found  her  food  in   the  children  of  men;  but 
when  she  is  depicted  for  us  by  religious  art,  she  is  suppos- 
ed to  have  been  already  converted  by  Buddha,  and  her  sole 
function  is  to  accord  to  the  vows  of  the  faithful  a  numerous 
progeny.  If  we  care  to  translate  the    myth    into  Greco- 
Roman  terms.  Lamia  was  metamorphosed  into  Lucina. 
Most  often  she  is  represented  as  holding  on  her  knees,  or 
even  suckHng,  her  last-born,  which  has  caused  her  to  be 
called   the   Buddhist  Madonna  Q,    whilst   numbers   of 
her  sons  frolic  around  her  or,  chmbing  about  her  person, 
make  her  look  Hke  an  Italian  allegory  of  Charity.  The 
authors  of  pi.  XVIII,  i  and  2  have  expressed  the  traditional 
conception  of  the  fruitful  and  fructifying  Hariti  in  a  man- 
ner more  sober  than  usual,  being  content  with  putting  a 
cornucopia  into  her  left  hand.  They  forget  only  one  point, 
namely  that  according  to  Indian  ideas  a  horn  or  any  other 
remnant  of  a  dead  animal  (except  the  black  antilope)  is  an 
unclean  thing,  and  that  only  people  of  the  currier  caste, 
the  least  fastidious  and  the  most  despised  of  men,  can  touch 
such  an  object.  For  us  Europeans,  who  are  not  disturbed 
by  such  refinements  of  delicacy,  this  attribute,  far  from 
shocking,  only  awakens  in  the  delighted  mind  ideas  of  fer- 


(i)  Cf.  infra,  the  last  essay. 


THE  TUTELARY  PAIR  IN  GAUL  AND  IN  INDIA  143 

tile  maturity  and  maternal  prosperity.  This  is,  indeed,  how 
the  Indo-Greek  sculptors  understood  it,  and  the  mere 
choice  of  this  symbol  would  be  sufficient  to  prove  that 
they  were  more  Greek  than  Indian  :  but  the  meaning  of 
these  abridged  versions  remains  evidently  the  same  as  that 
of  the  more  ornate  repHcas,  which  encumber  with  urchins 
the  pedestal,  the  knees,  and  even  the  shoulders  of  these 
same  persons  (cf.  pi.  XLVIII,  i).  The  mere  sight  of  the 
god  leaning  lovingly  on  the  arm  or  the  shoulder  of  his 
companion,  and  the  latter  not  fearing  to  caress  his  knee  in 
public,  leaves  us  in  no  doubt  that  popular  imagination  and 
cult  have  in  fact  united  in  matrimony  the  genius  who  dis- 
penses riches  and  the  fairy  who  grants  posterity. 

We  should  be  willing  to  believe  that  the  Gallic  groups, 
like  their  Indian  prototypes,  must  practically  answer  to  the 
same  eternal  desires  of  humanity  for  offspring  and  for  mo- 
ney —  although  our  modern  civilization  seems  to  detach 
itself  from  the  one  to  the  advantage  of  the  other.  As  far 
as  the  god  is  concerned,  whether  it  be  a  question  of  the 
Gallic  Mercury,  who,  we  are  told  by  Caesar,  controlled  the 
gains  of  commercial  transactions,  or  of  that  Dis  Pater,  who 
seems  to  be  the  native  double  of  Plutus,  as  well  as  of  Pluto, 
the  purse  which  he  holds  in  his  hand  is  in  all  languages  an 
expressive  emblem  :  and  as  for  the  goddess,  by  whatever 
name  she  may  be  called,  Rosmerta,  Maia,  Tutela,  Nanto- 
svelta,  or  simply  BonaDea,  her  horn  of  abundance  signifies 
fecundity.  According  to  all  appearance,  whilst  her  husband 
was  more  particularly  destined  to  fulfil  the  aspirations  of 
the  men,  her  task  was  to  satisfy  those  of  the  women  ;  and 
thus  in  Gaul,  as  in  India,  both  sexes  must  have  found  satis- 
faction in  the  worship  of  this  divine  pair.  Besides,  it  is  suf- 
ficient or  four  purpose  that  their  tutelary  character  should 
be  incontestable.  What  chiefly  interests  us  is  the  analogy 


144  THE  TUTELARY  PAIR  IN  GAUL  AND  IN  INDIA 

between  the  procedures  followed  by  the  artists  of  such 
distant  countries,  in  order  to  picture  before  our  eyes  ideas 
on  the  whole  analogous. 

Between  the  two  groups  reproduced  in  our  plates  the 
only  contrast  at  all  striking  consists  in  the  respectively 
inverse  positions  of  the  two  spouses.  But,  inverted  as  it  is, 
it  retains  the  same  intention  of  reserving  for  the  goddess 
the  place  of  honour  in  relation  to  the  man  —  that  being  ac- 
cording to  the  old  Indian  custom  on  the  left,  and  not  on  the 
right  as  with  us  (').  The  stool  placed  beneath  the  left  foot 
of  the  persons  in  pi.  XVII,  i  is  lacking  in  pi.  XVIII,  landa; 
but  it  exists  on  other  replicas,  and,  besides,  the  group  of 
pi.  XVII,  2  dispenses  with  it  likewise.  The  scaly  decoration 
of  the  pedestal  of  pi.  XVIII,  i,  made  of  coins  half  covering 
each  other,  is  only  a  paraphase  of  the  signification  of  the 
purse.  The  double  seats  on  pi.  XVIII  allow  a  sight  of  their 
four  feet,  turned  on  the  lathe  in  the  Indian  manner :  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  nimbus  which  emphasizes  the  divine 
character  of  the  pair  is  perfectly  familiar  to  our  western 
eyes.  Then,  beside  these  small  local  diflFerences,  what  re- 
semblances are  to  be  observed !  If  we  leave  aside  the  leg- 
gings and  the  large  earrings  of  the  Indian  genius,  his  cos- 
tume even,  consisting  of  a  tunic  and  a  cloak,  is  not  so  very 
different  from  that  usually  worn  by  his  Gallo-Roman  equi- 


(i)  For  other  conjugal  pairs  thus  placed  cf.  Art  greco-houddhique  du  Gan- 
dhara,  figg.  160-162.  A  curious  fact  to  be  noticed  is  that  two  Gallo-Roman 
groups,  to  be  classed  among  those  which  have  best  retained  the  accent  of 
their  birthplace,  also  place  the  goddess  on  the  left  of  the  god;  they  are 
nos.  1 3 19  (Saintes)  in  which  the  god  with  the  purse  is  crouched  down  «  a 
I'indienne  »  near  the  goddess  with  the  horn  of  abundance,  who  is  seated 
in  the  European  manner,  and  2334  (Auxois).  We  may  ask  ourselves  if  the 
custom  of  the  Gauls  was  not  the  same  as  that  of  the  Indians  on  this  point, 
exactly  as  we  know  that  it  was  the  common  custom  of  the  two  nations  to 
count  past  time  by  nights  and  not  by  days,  etc, 


THE  TUTELARY  PAIR  IN  GAUL  AND  IN  INDIA  145 

valents.  To  the  mallet  of  the  one  corresponds  well  enough 
the  long  sceptre  of  the  other,  with  its  end  rounded  in  the 
form  of  a  mace  (pi.  XVIII,  i).  As  for  the  beardless  god  of 
pi.  XVII,  2,  he,  we  are  told, «  holds  in  his  left  hand  a  lance, 
and  in  the  other  an  object  scarcely  recognizable,  perhaps 
a  purse  »  :  these  are  precisely  the  insignia  of  the  correspond- 
ing person  in  pi.  XVIII,  2.  Last  but  not  least,  the  women 
have  the  same  pose,  the  same  attributes,  the  same  drape- 
ries, even  the  same  headdress  in  the  form  of  a  (c  bushell  », 
or  «  basket  »  :  between  them  a  quasi-identity  asserts  itself, 
and  there  would  be  no  exaggeration  in  saying  that,  from 
the  banks  of  the  Indus  to  those  of  the  Seine,  it  would  have 
cheated  even  the  eyes  of  the  donors. 

Such  is  the  testimony  of  the  monuments.  What  does  it 
prove  ?  Let  us  hasten  to  say,  nothing  very  new :  for  certainly 
no  one  will  venture  to  imagine  direct  influences  between 
Gaul  and  India.  Moreover,  the  connection,  as  far  at  least  as 
the  goddess  is  concerned,  is  already  established  in  the 
memory  of  instructed  readers  by  a  number  of  intermediary 
figures  :  at  need  it  would  soon  be  discovered  among  those 
tiny  mercantile  and  travelling  folk,  the  Mediterranean  terra- 
cottas. We  shall  be  excused  for  holding  in  this  case  also  to 
prudent  generalities  and  confining  ourselves  to  the  intro- 
duction of  our  Indian  repHcas  into  the  discussion.  If  it  were 
not  sufficient  to  indicate  this  new  fact,  and  if  we  ought  fur- 
ther to  essay  an  interpretation  of  it,  that  which  we  should 
propose  is  a  very  simple  one.  It  has  long  been  ascertained 
that  the  art  of  Gandhara  borrowed  its  technique  from  Hel- 
lenistic art :  it  is  impossible  then  that  it  should  not  have 
features  in  common  with  Greco-Roman,  and  consequently 
with  the  Gallo-Roman  art.  This  kind  of  relationship,  how- 
ever distant  the  degree  may  be,  is  justified  principally,  in 
archaeology  as  well  as  in  linguistics,  by  the  same  construe- 


146  THE  TUTELARY  PAIR  IN  GAUL  AND  IN  INDIA 

tion  of  the  forms  and  the  employment  of  the  same  gram- 
mar, verbal  or  decorative:  and  in  this  particular  case  no 
speciaHst  could  turn  over  the  leaves  of  M.  Esp^randieu's 
collection  without  noticing,  in  support  of  the  cousinship 
of  these  distant  schools,  a  number  of  details  of  composition 
and  the  constant  return  of  the  same  ornamental  subjects, 
amorini,  griffons  or  tritons,  garlands,  acanthuses  orflowers. 
But,  after  all,  nothing  is  more  striking  and  more  persuasive 
for  the  public  than  a  comparison  bearing  on  vocabu- 
lary, especially  if  it  is  a  question  of  a  common  significant 
word.  This  is  just  the  kind  of  contribution  that  we 
believed  we  could  supply  here  by  noting  the  suggestive 
correspondence  of  the  oriental  and  occidental  expres- 
sions of  the  same  ideas,  or,  better,  of  the  same  religious 
needs.  In  truth,  these  works,  however  complex  they  may 
be,  only  transcribe  quite  rudimentary  notions;  but  notions 
only  the  more  deeply  grounded  in  human  nature.  Such 
as  they  are,  these  groups  —  which,  besides,  are  nearly 
contemporaneous  — seem  to  us  to  furnishfor  the  moment 
one  of  the  most  palpable  verifications  of  the  factthatin  the 
first  centuries  of  our  era  the  sculptors  of  the  Gauls  and 
those  of  Ariana  had  each  learned  at  the  school  of  the  Greeks, 
and  spoke  from  one  end  of  the  ancient  world  to  the  other 
the  same  common  language,  the  same  artistic  «  koin^  ». 


PLATE  XVII 

Cf.  pp.  141-145. 


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THE    TUTELARY    PAIR 


PL.  XVII 


PLATE  XVIII 
Cf.  pp.  141-145. 


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THE   TUTELARY    PAIR 


PL.  XVIII 


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«    -  .  --^  ..A 


The  Great  Miracle  at  Qravasti  (0. 


I 

The  narratives  of  the  death  of  Buddha  assert  that  after 
his  cremation  eight  kings  or  ruUng  clans  shared  his  ashes, 
and  that  they  deposited  their  several  portions  under  as  many 
stupas.  We  see  no  reason  for  disbelieving  tradition  on  this 
point :  the  important  thing  is  not  at  times  to  confuse  these 
first  eight  sanctuaries  with  the  historical  «  eight  grand 
caityas  »  (").  We  know,  indeed,  for  certain  that  eight  towns 
of  Madhyadeca  had  finally  divided  among  themselves,  not 
the  relics,  but  the  legend,  of  Buddha.  In  their  immediate 
neighbourhood  were  eight  specially  holy  places,  supposed 
to  preserve  the  vestiges  of  the  eight  principal  miracles 
of  the  Master.  This  implies  that  they  formed  as  many 
centres  of  attraction  for  pilgrims,  the  organized  exploitation 
of  whom  —  one  of  the  few  industries  which  still  survive 
in  India  —  must  have  constituted  an  appreciable  source  of 
income.  It  may  easily  be  imagined  that  the  definite  choice 
of  scenes  and  sites  was  not  accomplished  without  rivalries 


{i)  Journal  asialique,  Jan. -Feb.  1909. 

(2)  That  there  is  no  lack  of  opportunity  for  these  confusions  we  find 
proved  at  once  in  Une  poesie  hconnue  du  roi  Harsa  QilMUya,  restored  from 
Chinese  transcription  by  M.  S,  Levi  {Ades  du  X"  Congres  int.  des  Orient., 
1894,  I,  p.  188,  Leiden,  1895)  and  entitled  «  Hymn  to  the  Eight  Great 
Caityas  »,  which  enumerates  still  more.  The  «  eight  reliquaries  »  of  stanza  5, 
followed  by  the  stupas  of  the  «  urn  »  and  the  «  ashes  »,  are  evidently  the  8  -\- 
2  stupas  of  the  Mahdparinibbdna-  sutta,  VL  62,  and  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
«  eight  great  caityas  »  of  the  title. 

12 


148  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

and  hesitations.  At  least  four  cities,  indeed,  received  from  the 
first  an  undisputed  recognition.  A  relatively  ancient  text,  the 
Mahdparinibbdnasutta,  already  recommends  the  pilgrimages 
to  the  four  sacred  places  of  the  Birth,  the  Illumination,  the 
First  Preaching,  and  the  Death,  of  Buddha  (')■  On  the 
square  bases  of  the  little  stupas  of  Gandhara  and  the  stelae  of 
Amaravati  these  four  scenes  are  invariably  associated (pU.  II- 
IV)  :  only  we  must  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  the 
latter  case  Kapilavastu  is  usually  represented  not  by  the 
nativity  of  the  child  Buddha,  but  by  what  might  be  called 
his  birth  into  the  spiritual  life,  we  mean  his  «  abandonment 
of  home  »  Q) .  However,  neither  the  cities  of  Gaya  and 
Benares,  nor  certainly  the  obscure  frontier  market  towns  of 
Kapilavastu  and  Kucinagara  could  pretend  to  monopolize 
between  them  the  Buddhist  legend  and  the  advantages 
accruing  therefrom.  Through  the  disconnected  accounts  of 


(i)V,  16-22;  iht  Jati,  the  Abhisambodhi,  the Dharmacakrapravartana,  and 
the  Parinirvana  are  similarly  associated  in  the  Divydvaddna,  ed.  Cowell 
and  Neil,  p.  244  and  p   397,  1.  18. 

(2)  For  the  little  stupas  of  the  north-west,  cf.  Art  greco-bouddhique  du 
Gandhara,  fig.  208.  For  the  stels  of  Amaravati  see  J.  Burgess,  The  Buddhist 
Stupas  of  Amaravati  and  Jaggayyapeta,  pll.  XVI,  4;  XXXII,  4;  XXXVIII,  5  ; 
XLI,  6  (with  the  departure  on  horseback;  cf.  J.  Fergdsson,  Tree  and 
Serpent-Worship,  pi.  LXXV  on  the  right),  and  pi.  XVI,  3  (with  the  farewell 
to  Chandaka;  cf.  Fergdsson,  ibid.,  pi.  LXXV,  to  the  left).  On  all  those 
stelse  which  are  complete  the  Parinirvdria  is  constantly  symbolized  by  a 
simple  stupa.'With  these  one  may  connect  others,  in  which  the  Abhisarnbodhi 
and  the  Dharmacakrapravartana  are  figured  by  an  empty  throne  under  a  tree 
or  a  wheel  (Bdrgess,  ibid.,  pll.  XXXVIII,  3  and  6  ;  XLV,  2  and  4;  XLVI, 
1-3 ;  XLVII,  3  ;  XLVIII,  i ;  Fergdsson,  ibid.,  pll.  XCIII;  XCIV,  i,  4).  The 
most  curious  of  this  kind  are  those  which  shrink  from  representing  not  only 
the  Buddha,  but  even  the  Bodhisattva,  and  wherein  the  Mahdbhinishkramana 
is  no  longer  represented,  except  by  a  horse  without  a  rider  (Fergdsson, 
ibid.,  pll.  XCIII,  to  the  left ;  XCVI,  3  and  XCVIII,  2).  It  will  be  observed 
.besides  that  on  several  stein;  of  Benares  (^Anc.  Mon.  Ind.,  pi.  67,  2  and 
68,  i)  the  Mahdbhinishkramana  is  associated  with  the  Jdti  in  the  same 
framework. 


THElGREAT  MIRACLE  149 

the  documents  we  seem  to  catch  the  play  of  the  two  domi- 
nant forces  which  brought  the  number  of  the  great  pilgrim- 
ages up  to  the  sacred  figure  of  eight.  Sometimes  the  pre- 
ponderant element  seems  to  be  the  prestige  which  a  certain 
miracle  had  very  early  acquired  in  the  popular  imagination. 
Thus  we  see  the  «  descent  from  heaven  »  separate  itself 
very  early  from  the  crowd  of  traditional  marvels ;  but  its 
localization  continues  fluctuating,  at  least  if  we  keep  to 
the  letter  of  the  texts  (*).  On  the  other  hand,  the  ancient 
capital  ofMagadha,  Rajagriha,  and  the  wealthy  free  town  of 
Vaifali  easily,  by  reason  of  their  preeminent  role  in  the  Bud- 
dhist scriptures ,  eclipsed  the  titles  of  Kaucambi  or  Mathura  : 
there  is,  however,  no  consensus  of  testimony  as  to  which 
among  all  the  edifying  scenes  which  had  there  come  to 
pass  it  was  right  more  particularly  to  commemorate.  At 
Cravasti  even,  where  the  interest  is  at  once  concentrated 
upon  the  Jetavana,  the  Master's  favourite  sojourn,  unanim- 
ity of  choice  does  not  fall,  as  might  have  been  expected,  on 
the  a  great  miracle  »,  the  triumph  whereby  its  immediate 
environs  had  been  rendered  famous  Q.  In  the  face  of  the 

(i)  It  is  known  that  the  Divydvaddna  and  Fa-hien  localize  the  Devdvatdra 
at  Sankagya,  Hiuan-tsang  at  Kapitha  and  Fa-t'ien  (cf.  S.  Levi^  loc.  cit.,  p.  190) 
at  Kanyikubja;  the  Mahdvyutpatti  (§  193)  and  Wou-k'ong  (trans.  S.  Levi 
and  Ed.  Chavannes,  Journal  A siatique,  sept-oct.  1895,  p.  358)  do  not  give 
definitely  the  place  of  this  «  Descent  »  of  Buddha. 

(2)  The  Mahdprdtihdrya  is  indeed  mentioned  by  the  text  of  Harsha  and 
placed,  somewhat  incorrectly,  by  Fa-t'ien  in  the  Jetavana  of  ^ravasti  (the 
Divydvaddna  [pp.  151  and  155, 11.  12-14  and  17-18]  specifies,  in  fact,  that  the 
theatre  of  the  scene  was  situated  between  the  town  and  the  park) ;  but 
Wou-k'ong  associates  with  the  Jetavana  the  preaching  of  the  Mahdpmjmpd- 
ramitd-sutra.  In  the  same  way,  at  Rijagriha,  in  direct  antithesis  to  the  vague 
«  teachings  »  of  Fa-t'ien,  he  places  the  preaching  of  the  Saddharmapundarika 
on  the  neighbouring  hill  of  the  Gridhrakuta.  At  Vai^ili  both  agree  to  call  by 
different  names  the  touching  episode  of  the  rejection  of  life  {dyur°  or  dyuh- 
samskdra-utsarjana),  which  supervened  three  months  before  the  Parinirvdna. 
But  we  shall  see  that,  guided  by  considerations  of  a  pictorial  and  technical 


ijo  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

capricious  divergencies  of  the  texts  the  concordant  precis- 
ion of  the  figured  monuments  has  fortunately  permitted 
us  to  make  out  the  list,  and  to  sketch  the  traditional  scheme, 
of  the  four  supplementary  great  scenes,  the  miracle  of  Qra- 
vasti,  the  descent  from  heaven  at  Sankacya,  the  monkey's 
oifering  at  Vai^ali,  the  subjugation  of  the  savage  elephant 
at  RajagrihaQ.  It  is  true  that,  in  order  definitely  to  fix  this 
scheme,  we  have  availed  ourselves  chiefly  of  miniatures 
in  Nepalese  and  Bengali  manuscripts  of  rather  late  date 
(Xl"'-XIir''  centuries).  At  the  most  we  had  been  able  to 
compare  with  them  only  a  few  carved  slabs,  which  came 
from  the  scene  of  the  «  first  preaching)),  at  Sarnath,in  the 
northern  suburb  of  Benares,  and  which  date  back  approxi- 
mately to  the  V*''  century  of  our  era.  Unfortunately^  these 
slabs  were  quite  incomplete  :  we  may  be  permitted,  there- 
fore, to  emphasize  the  interest  of  the  recent  discovery  at 
the  same  place  of  a  stele  in  fairly  good  condition,  divided 
into  eight  panels  and  consecrated  precisely  to  the  eight  great 
scenes  (pi.  XIX,  i).  Let  us  say  at  once  that  seven  of  these 
bas-reUefs  only  confirm  what  we  already  knew  of  the  sub- 
jects which  they  represent  and  the  conventional  manner  of 
treating  them.  Besides,  Mr.  J.  H.  Marshall  has  completely 
identified  them.  He  has  no  hesitation,  except  as  regards 
one  single  scene,  «  of  which  the  identification  )),  he  says, 
«  is  doubtful,  but  which  appears  to  have  taken  place  at  ^ra- 
vasti ))  Q.  And  it  is,  in  fact,  concerning  the  traditional 


order,  the  artists  made  from  the  mass  of  the  traditional  accoums  a  quite 
different  choice  from  the  men  of  letters. 

(i)  See  Et.  sur  Vlconogr.  bouddh.  de  I'Inde,  I  (1900,  pp.  162-170),  sum- 
marized, corrected  and  completed,  ibid.,  II  (1905),  pp.  113-114. 

(2)  See  Mr.  Marshall's  (article  in  /.  R.  A.  S.  1907,  pp.  999-1000,  and 
pi.  IV,  i).  We  take  pleasure  in  here  thanking  the  very  distinguished  Direc- 
tor-General of  Archxiology,  India,  for  his  extreme  kindness  in  putting  at 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  151 

manner  of  representing  the  «  Great  miracle  »  of  gravasti 
that  this  new  document  will  furnish  us  with  useful  evi- 
dence. 


II 

The  canonical  importance  of  the  mahd-prdtihdrya  of  ^ra- 
vasti  is  incontestable.  The  Divydvaddna  gives  it  expressly 
as  one  of  the  ten  acts  of  which  every  perfect  Buddha  must 
necessarily  acquit  himself  before  dying  (').  It  is  likewise 
in  this  text  —that  is  to  say,  as  MM.  S.  Levi  and  Ed.  Huber 
have  shown,  in  the  Vinaya  of  the  Mula-Sarvastivadins  — 
that  we  find  the  most  ancient  and  most  detailed  account 
of  the  miracles  whereby  on  this  occasion  Qakyamuni 
triumphed  over  his  rivals,  the  six  chiefs  of  sects.  Thanks  to 
the  translation  of  Burnouf,  this  account  is  too  well  known 
to  need  citation  here  (*).  We  shall  restrict  ourselves  to 
bringing  out  the  essential  points.  After  having  wrought  a 
few  minor  miracles,  which  were  mere  preliminary  trifles, 
and  refusing  to  allow  anyone,  monk  or  layman,  man  or 


our  disposal  a  photograph  of  the  stele  in   question  and  authorizing  its 
reproduction. 

(i)  Divydvaddna,  pp,  150  151 ;  no  Buddha  of  the  past  has  failed  in  it  ibid., 
p.  147,  11.  24-27);  according  to  the  Tibetan  testimonies  the  Buddha  of  our 
age  accomplished  it  in  the  sixteenth  year  of  his  ministry  (Rockhill,  Life  of 
the  Buddha,  p.  79). 

(2)  Divydddna,  XII  and  Bdrnouf,  Introduction  a  I'hist.  du  Bouddh.  indien, 
pp.  162  sqq.  The  XIII"»  story  of  the  Avaddnakalpalatd,  deplorably  edited 
indeed  in  the  Bibl.  Indica,  V,  1895  (see,  below,  p.  174,  n.  5),  adds,  in  accor- 
dance "with  the  usual  custom  of  Kshemendra,  nothing  but  poetic  graces ; 
RoCKmL(^Life  of  the  Buddha,  pp.  79-80,  following  the  Dulva)  and  Schiefner 
(^Eine  tihet.  Lebensbeschr .  Qdkyamuni's,  p.  293)  restrict  themselves  to  a  refer- 
ence to  BuRNOUF.  For  the  connections  of  these  various  authors  with  the 
tradition  of  the  Mfila-Sarvistivyins  see  also  the  very  clear  conclusions  of 
Prof.  S.  Levi,  Journal  Asiatique,  July-August  1908,  pp.  102  and  104. 


152  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

woman,  to  be  substituted  for  him,  so  as  to  confuse  the 
Tirthyas  by  the  exhibition  of  a  supernatural  power,  the 
Blessed  One  accomplishes  successively,  on  the  direct  and 
twice  repeated  invitation  of  king  Prasenajit,  two  kinds  of 
miracles.  At  first  he  displays  what  in  technical  terms  is 
called  the  yamaka-prdtihdrya,  which  consists  in  walking  the 
air  in  various  attitudes,  while  emitting  alternately  flames 
and  waves  from  the  upper  and  lower  parts  of  his  body ;  in 
the  second  place,  multiplying  images  of  himself  up  to 
heaven  and  in  all  directions,  he  preaches  his  law.  A  violent 
storm,  raised  by  a  chief  of  the  genii,  completes  the  over- 
throw of  the  heterodox.  An  immense  multitude  is  convert- 
ed to  the  good  law. 

If  now  after  the  Sanskrit  version  we  consult  the  Pali  tra- 
dition, we  find  that  the  mahd-prddhdrya  of  ^ravasti  is  there 
usually  designated  «  the  miracle  at  the  foot  of  the  mango- 
tree  ».  The  Mahdvamsa  and  the  commentary  of  the  Jdtaka, 
for  example,  give  it  no  other  name.  According  to  the 
latter,  as  also  according  to  the  Singhalese  and  the  Bur- 
mese (')  accounts,  Buddha  did,  in  fact,  begin  by  accom- 
pUshing  the  magical  operation  which  the  jugglers  of  India 
are  always  endeavouring  to  imitate  :  from  the  stone  of  a 
mango  planted  in  the  ground  he  is  supposed  to  have  forth- 
with grown  an  enormous  tree,  covered  at  once  with  flowers 
and  fruits.  But  then  this  is  merely  a  simple  extra,  scarcely 
even  a  curtain-raiser.  When  the  great  day  has  come,  the 
divinities  assemble,  and  the  introduction  to  Jdtaka  no.  483 


(i)  Cf.  Mahavamsa,  ed.  Turnodr,  pp.  107,  181, 191 ;  ed.  Geiger,  pp.  137, 
241,  2S4;  Jdtaka,  ed.  Fausb0ll,  I,  p.  77, 1.  23  ;  88, 1.  20,  etc.;  ambamule,  or 
gandamba-mtile,  is  written ;  Ganda  has  become  in  the  commentary  of  the 
Jdtaka,  no.  483,  and  Gandamba  in  Sp.  Hardy  (Manual  of  Buddhism,  i^'  ed. 
pp.  295-296),  the  name  of  the  gardener  who  suppHed  the  mango  :  see  also 
BiGANDET,  Life  of  Gaudama,  Rangoon,  1866,  p.  205. 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  153 

tells  US  in  a  single  sentence  that «  The  Master,  having  accom- 
plished the  yamaka-pdtibdnya,  and  having  recognized  the 
believing  dispositions  of  a  great  number  of  people,  redes- 
cended,  and,  seated  on  his  Buddha  seat,  taught  the  law  »  ('). 
If  we  analyse  this  brief  r^sum^  of  the  scene,  it  is  not  difficult 
to  recognize  in  it,  exactly  as  in  the  overelaborate  version 
of  the  Divydvaddna,  the  distinct  and  successive  enunciation 
of  the  same  two  moments,  that  of  the  «  pair  of  miracles  » 
and  that  of  the  preaching. 

Of  these  two  manifestations  the  first  strikes  one  imme- 
diately as  the  more  original  and  the  more  picturesque  : 
one  would  have  wagered  that  it  must  have  thrust  itself  on 
the  choice  of  the  artists  whose  duty  it  was  to  decorate  the 
Buddhist  monuments  with  edifying  scenes,  or  to  compose 
pious  ex-votos  for  the  use  of  the  laity.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  have  found  in  the  ancient  school  of  Gandhara  at  least 
one  indubitable  representation  of  the  «  twin  miracles  »  ; 
and  even  at  the  present  moment  the  special  attribution  of 
this  bas-relief  to  the  mahd-prdtihdrya  of  ^ravasti  seems  to 
us  not  in  the  least  untenable,  on  the  sole  condition  that  we 
mark  well  its  exceptional  character  Q).  It  was,  besides,  the 
accidental  circumstance  of  this  find  that  prevented  our  car- 
rying still  further  our  researches  on  this  point.  Nevertheless , 
as  we  had  already  observed,  it  was  the  scene  of  the  manifold 


(i)  See  JAtaka,  IV,  p.  265,  11,  13-14  ;  the  English  translation  (IV,  p.  168, 
1. 1 3)  of  oruyha=avaruyha  by  «  then  arose  »  seems  to  us  to  be  a  lapsus  calami, 
going  directly  against  the  meaning.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Pali,  like  the 
Mah&vastu,  makes  use  of  the  technical  term  oi yamaka-p°;  Bigandet,  be.  cH., 
p.  207,  gives  us  a  very  clear  description  of  it  (perhaps  even  two  descrip- 
tions, cf.  below,  p.  157);  it  is  also  easily  recognized  through  the  tejo°  and 
apokasina-samdpatti  o(  Sp.  Hardy,  he.  cit.,  p.  297. 

(2)  See  Art  g.-b.  du  Gandh.,  pp.  516  and  535,  and  fig.  26^(=:Anc.Mon. 
India,  pi.  115,  5),  where  we  give  the  reasons  which  led  us  us  to  prefer  this 
identification  to  the  equally  possible  one  of  «  the  arrival  at  Kapilavastu  ». 


154  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

preaching  of  the  Master  that  later,  if  we  may  judge  from 
the  miniatures  of  the  manuscripts,  inspired  the  traditional 
image  of  the  «  great  miracle  »  :  at  least,  they  represent  it 
regularly  by  three  Buddhas  teaching,  seated  side  by  side 
upon  as  many  lotuses  (').  Now  the  stele  recently  exhumed 
from  the  ground  of  the  ancient  Mrigadava  testifies,  five  or 
six  centuries  earlier,  to  this  same  manner  of  conceiving 
the  subject :  the  compartment  which  we  know  beforehand 
to  have  been  reserved  for  the  miracle  of  Cravasti  shows  us, 
in  fact,  like  the  miniatures,  three  Buddhas  seated  on  lotuses 
in  the  attitude  of  teaching.  This  is  the  new  fact  supplied 
by  this  discovery,  and  it  will  not  be  long  before  its  conse- 
quences unfold  themselves  before  our  eyes. 

But,  first  of  all,  a  question  arises  as  to  whether  we  must 
restrict  ourselves  to  merely  stating,  or  whether  we  can  suc- 
ceed in  explaining,  the  unexpected  choice  of  the  artists.  If 
we  consider  only  the  stele  in  question  (pi.  XIX,  i),  it  seems 
that  we  may  immediately  see  a  reason,  although  an  external 
one,  for  the  course  taken  by  its  author.  Let  us  observe,  in 
fact,  that  of  the  four  great  supplementary  scenes  of  the 
legend  of  Buddha  there  are  two  which  absolutely  necessi- 
tate a  standing  posture  :  they  are  the  subjugation  of  the 
wild  elephant  and  the  descent  from  heaven.  A  legitimate 
care  for  symmetry  in  the  alternation  of  the  poses  would 
have  demanded  a  sitting  posture  in  the  corresponding 
scenes,  not  only  in  the  monkey's  offering,  but  also  in  the 
great  miracle  of  Qravasti.  Such,  at  least,  is  the  idea  impe- 
riously suggested  by  an  examination  of  the  apportion- 
ment of  the  subjects  on  the  new  stele  —  the  only  one, 


(i)  See  Icon,  houddh.  de  VInde,  I,  pi.  X,  i  (cf.  Bendall,  Catalogue  of  the 
Buddhist  Sanskrit  Manuscripts  in  the  University  Library,  Cambridge,  1883, 
pi.  II,  i),  and  cf.  ibid.  p.  205,  no.  82,  and  II,  pp.  114,  no.  4. 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  155 

let  us  remember,  that  we  possess  with  the  eight  scenes 
complete  (cf.  the  table  below). 


First  Preaching 
Buddha  seated 


Descent  from  Heaven 
Buddha  standing 


Parinirvdna 
Buddha  lying  down 


r 


Miracle  of  Qrdvasti 
Buddha  seated 


Offering  of  the  monhey 
Buddha  seated 


J 


Nativity 
Maya  standing 


Stihjugation  of  the  elephant 
Buddha  standing 


Perfect  enlightenment 
Buddha  seated 


It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  remark  that  this  reason, 
valid  for  the  whole,  is  inapphcable  to  an  isolated  panel. 
The  reading  of  the  texts  will  furnish  an  argument  of  wider 
bearing.  It  does  not,  in  fact,  take  us  long  to  perceive  that  they 
use  and  abuse  the  yamaka-prdtihdrya.  The  general  introduc- 
tion of  the  Jdtaka  makes  it  to  be  wrought  by  Buddha  as 
early  as  the  eighth  day  after  the  Bodhi,  and  specifies  that 
he  repeated  it  under  three  other  circumstances,  (i)  at  the 
time  of  his  visit  to  Kapilavastu  and  of  his  meeting  with 
his  father  and  his  relatives,  the  ^akyas,  (2)  at  the  time  of 
his  encounter  with  the  heterodox  monk  Patikaputta, 
and  last,  (3)  at  ^ravasti,  at  the  foot  of  the  mango-tree  ('). 
The  Divydvaddna  attributes  it  further  to  a  simple  monk ; 
the  Mahdvastu  to  Yacoda  or  Ya^ as,  the  converted  son  of 
the  banker  of  Benares;  the  Sutrdlahkdra  to  the  five  hun- 
dred bhikshunis,  companions  ot  Mahaprajapati ;  the  Jdtaka- 


(i)  Jdtaka,  I,  pp.  77  and  88;  trans.  Rhys  Davids,  Buddhist  Birth  Stories, 
pp.  105  and  123;  on  the  first  of  the  three  other  occasions  cf.  MaMws/w,  III, 
p,  115,  and  on  the  second  the  Manual  of  Sp.  Hardy,  p.  33I- 


156  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

mdU  to  a  Pratyeka-Buddha ;  finally,  the  Mahavamsa  twice 
places  it  to  the  account  of  simple  reUcs  of  the  Blessed 
One,  etc.  (').  We  receive  the  impression  that  the  yamaka- 
prdtihdrya  has  become  hackneyed  in  consequence  of  being 
classic.  Moreover  when,  after  having  accomplished  it,  Bud- 
dha returns  and  seats  himself  in  his  place,  he  informs  king 
Prasenajit  in  a  moment  of  proud  modesty  that  «  this 
kind  of  magical  power  is  common  to  all  the  disciples  of  the 
Tathagata»  Q.  Hence  it  may  be  conceived  that  artists  and 
worshippers  were  of  one  mind  in  no  longer  finding  in 
this  banal  wonder  anything  to  characterize  with  suffi- 
cient clearness  the  great  scene  of  (^ravasti,  and  preferred 
the  multiplication  of  the  teaching  images  of  the  Master  : 
for  it  is  written  that  this  last  miracle  is  realizable  only  by 
the  special  power  of  the  Buddha  and  the  gods  Q. 

Finally,  if  we  must  conceal  nothing,  we  seem  to 
detect  in  the  texts  themselves  a  tendency  to  confuse  the 
two  kinds  of  wonders,  and  even  to  ehminate  the  former 
in  favour  of  the  latter.  First  of  all,  there  seems  to  have 
been  at  times  a  misapprehension  as  to  the  real  meaning 
of  the  expression  yamaka-prdtihdrya.  This  technical  term 
«  twin  miracles  »  does  in  fact  lend  itself  to  confusion. 
We  know  now  from  the  very  explicit  descriptions  of  the 
Divydvaddna  and  the  Mahdvastu  that  it  must  be  understood 


(i)  Divydvaddna,  p.  378  ;  Mahdvastu,  III,  p.  410;  Sutrdlankdra,  trans, 
Ed.  Hdber,  p.  399;  Jdtakamdld,  IV,  20  ;  Mahdvamsa,  pp.  107  and  191  (Tdr- 
no0r),  137  and  254  (Geiger). 

(2)  Divydvaddna,  p.  161,  1.  13  :  sarvafrdvaka-sddhdrana.  The  text  of  the 
conamentary  of  Jdtaka,  n°  483,  IV,  p.  265,  11.  12-13  ■  Asddhdranam  sdva- 
kehiyamaka-p",  which  seems  to  mean  the  contrary,  becomes  in  consequence 
most  suspicious,  at  least  if  the  two  texts  are  speaking  of  the  same  miracle. 

(3)  Divydvaddna,  p.  162,  ad  fin.  The  power  of  holding  a  dialogue  with  a 
magic  double  is  likewise  stated  a  little  further  (on  p.  166,  1.  11)  as  a  privi- 
lege of  perfect  Buddhas  only  and  inaccessible  to  simple  fravakas. 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  157 

as  the  combined  alternation  of  the  two  opposite  wonders 
of  water  and  fire  :  but  it  was  not  without  reason  that  in 
1880  Prof.  Rhys  Davids  understood  it  to  mean  «  making 
another  appearance  like  unto  himself  » .  In  the  Burmese 
narrative  translated  by  Bigandet  (')  Buddha  does,  indeed, 
begin  by  making  flames  or  streams  gush  forth  alternately 
from  the  upper  and  lower  parts  of  his  body  :  but  very  soon 
he  hastens  to  create  a  companion  for  his  conversation 
and  his  walks,  and  sometimes  it  is  his  turn,  and  some- 
times that  of  his  double,  to  walk  or  to  sit  down,  to  ques- 
tion or  to  reply.  It  is  curious  to  notice  that  the  Divyd- 
vaddna  also  makes  the  magically  multiplied  images  of  the 
Blessed  One  assume  varied  attitudes,  and  whilst  some 
repeat  afresh  the  marvels  of  water  and  fire,  «  others  either 
ask  questions  or  give  answers  to  them  ».  It  even  goes  so 
far  as  to  introduce  most  unexpectedly,  as  an  ending  to  the 
chapter,  a  dialogue  between  Buddha  and  another  self,  crea- 
ted expressly  for  this  purpose  Q.  Thus  it  manifests  at 
least  a  certain  propensity  to  amalgamate  the  two  successive 
moments  which  it  at  first  endeavoured  to  distinguish,  and 
to  confuse  the  reduplication  of  the  miracles  with  that  of 
the  images  Q).  Butthis  is  not  all.  In  another  passage  of  the 
same  collection  the  reverend  Piridola  Bharadvaja  relates  to 
king  Afoka  this  same  miracle  of  Qravasti,  of  which  he 

(i)  See  Rhys  Davids,  Buddh.  Birth  Stories,  p.  105,  n.  4;  and  Bigandet, 
loc.  cit.,  p.  207. 

(2)  Divydvaddna,  p.  162,  11.  17-20,  and  166,  11.  3-1 1 ;  cf.  the  description 
of  plate  XXI,  2. 

(3)  The  same  confusion  seems  to  be  reproduced  with  regard  to  the  miracles 
attributed  to  the  monk  Panthaka  ;  as  regards  these  last  I  am  indebted  to  the 
obliging  friendship  and  incomparably  extensive  information  of  Prof.  S.  Levi 
for  the  following  references  :  Divydvaddna,  p.  494;  Anguttara-Nikdya,  I,  14 
(p.  24) ;  Fisuddhi-magga,  analysed  in/.  Pdli  Text  Society,  1891-1893,  p.  114 ; 
Vinaya  (^Chinese)  of  the  Sarvistivddins  (c.  11),  of  the  Mahi^^sakas  (c,  7), 
of  the  Dharmaguptas  (c.  12),  etc. 


158  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

represents  himself  as  an  eye  witness.  Now  he  no  longer 
even  mentions  the  yamaka-prdtiharya  :  «  And  when,  o! 
Great  King,  in  order  to  triumph  over  the  Tirthyas,  the 
great  miracle  was  accomplished  at  Qravasti  by  the  Blessed 
One,  and  there  was  created  an  array  of  Buddhas  which 
mounted  up  to  the  heaven  of  the  Akanishtha  gods,  at  that 
time  I  was  there,  and  I  saw  these  sports  of  Buddha  (')  ». 
Here  it  is  no  longer  a  question  of  anything  but  the  second 
miracle.  Finally,  we  again  find  this  latter,  reduced  to  its 
most  simple  expression,  in  the  Buddhacarita  of  Agvaghosha, 
whose  descriptions  are  always  so  close  to  the  figured  monu- 
ments. According  to  him  (so  far  as  we  can  trust  the  English 
translation  made  by  the  Rev.  S.  Beal  from  the  Chinese 
translation  of  the  original  Sanskrit)  Buddha  restricts  himself 
to  rising  into  the  air  and  there  remaining  seated,  and 
«  diffusing  his  glory  like  the  hght  of  the  sun,  he  shed 
abroad  the  brightness  of  his  presence  ».  In  this  version  — 
by  a  strange  coincidence,  but  one  which  in  our  opinion  it 
would  be  vain  to  seek  to  press  further  —  the  mahd-prdtihdrya 
quite  assumes  the  characteristics  of  a  Transfiguration  :  «  His 
face  did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  his  raiment  became  white  as 
the  light  O  ». 

Ill 

These  waverings  of  tradition,  as  they  are  thus  indicated  in 
the  texts,  may  help  us  to  understand  the  at  first  somewhat 
surprising  choice  of  the  Indian  image-makers.  Regarding 


(i)  Divydvaddna,p.  401  (cf.  Burnodf,  Introd.,  p.  398)  :  it  will  be  noticed 
that  these  are  exactly  the  same  terms  as  are  employed  on  two  occasions 
in  the  previously  quoted  suira  (Divyavaddm,  p.  162,  11.  16  and  26).  — 
P.  401,  1.  15,  read  probably  aham  instead  of  mahat. 

(2)  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  XIX,  p.  240;  Gospel  accordim  to  St.  Matthew 
XVII,  2. 


tHE  GREAT  MtRACLE  159 

the  fact  of  the  choice  itself  there  is,  as  we  said  above,  no 
room  for  doubt.  Let  us  resume  the  examination  of  the  new 
panel,  no.  5  of  plate  XIX,  i  :  On  a  lotus,  whose  peduncle 
issues  from  a  ripple  of  waves  rolled  into  volutes,  Buddha 
is  seated  with  crossed  legs  in  the  hallowed  posture,  and  his 
hands  are  joined  in  the  gesture  of  instruction;  on  his 
right  and  left,  again,  there  rises  a.  padjna  with  a. long  stalk, 
bearing  another  smaller  Buddha,  similar  in  all  respects  to 
the  first...  Now  it  is  written  in  the  Divydvaddm  that  at 
that  moment  —  namely,  at  a  second  invitation  from  Prase- 
najit  and  when  the  first  series  of  miracles  was  already 
accomplished  —  «  Buddha  conceived  a  mundane  thought » . 
Immediately  the  Gods  rush  forward  to  execute  it :  Brahma 
takes  a  place  at  his  right  and  Qakra  at  his  left,  while  the 
two  Naga  kings,  Nanda  and  Upananda,   create  entire   a 
wonderful  lotus,  on  the  corolla  of  which  the  Blessed  One 
seats  himself.  Then  by  the   force   of  his  magic  power, 
«  above  this  lotus  he  created  another,  and  on  this  one  also 
a  Buddha  was  seated  with  his  legs  crossed  :  and  thus  in 
front,  behind,  at  the  sides...  »The  crowd  of  Buddhas,  hold- 
ing themselves  in  the  four  consecrated  attitudes  (erect, 
walking,  seated,  or  recumbent),  soon  rise  to  the  highest 
heavens  (*).  The  bas-relief,  unable  to  juggle,  like  the  text, 
with  numbers  and  forms,  shows  us  just  three  of  them,  all 
alike  seated  :  but  by  now  there  is  for  us  no  question  that 
we  must  see  in  this  restricted  space  an  attempt,  however 
timid,  to  realize  the  legendary  phantasmagoria. 


(1)  Cf.  Divyavaddna,  p.  162.  We  know  that  the  heaven  of  the  Akanishthas 
is  the  highest  heaven  of  the  Riipadhdtu,  at  the  2y^  story  of  the  Buddhist 
paradises.  We  remember  also  that  the  two  kings  of  the  serpents,  «  Nanda 
and  his  junior  »,  play  a  part  in  a  number  of  episodes  in  the  life  of  Buddha, 
beginning  with  the  bath  which  followed  the  nativity.  We  shall  find  infor- 
mation concerning  them  extracted  by  M.  Ed.  Huber  from  the  Vinaya  of  the 
Mula-Sarvistividins  in  the  B.  £.  F.  E.-O.,  VI,  1906,  pp.  8  sqq. 


i6o  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

With  this  abridged  version  we  may  connect  imme- 
diately other  more  developed  pictures,  such,  for  example, 
as  that  which  totally  covers  another  stele  originating  from 
Sarnath  ('),  and  in  which  are  staged  no  less  than  four 
rows  of  Buddhas,  seated  or  standing  pi.  (XIX,  2),  On  seeing 
the  upward-branching  lotus  stems  which  bear  these  small 
figures,  we  might  believe  ourselves  in  the  presence  of  a 
genealogical  tree  of  Buddhas.  Thus  we  are  invincibly  led 
to  recall  those  which,  either  carved  or  painted,  entirely 
cover  great  stretches  of  the  walls  of  several  of  the  subter- 
ranean temples  of  Ajanta.  One  of  these  frescoes,  of  which 
a  copy  has  been  pubhshed,  very  gracefully  combines 
wreaths  of  flowers  and  foliage  with  the  dreamy  figures  of 
the  seated  or  standing  Buddhas  Q)  :  it  decorates  the  wall 
on  the  right,  in  the  antechamber  of  the  sanctuary  of  Cave  I ; 


(i)  Again  let  us  cite  no.  (Sdrndth)  i  of  the  Calcutta  Museum  (Anderson, 
Catalogue,  II,  p.  4;  Anc.  Mon.  India,  pi.  68,  i),  the  left  upper  division  of 
which  unfortunately  broken)  represents  similarly  the  «  great  miracle  »  of 
Qlravasti  opposite  10  the  «  descent  from  heaven  »  (cf.  below,  p.  164,  n.  i). 
It  will  be  observed  that  on  two  other  stelae  of  the  same  origin  {Anc.  Mon. 
India,  pll.  (>j,'i  and  68,  2  :  Art  g.-b.  du  Gandh.,  fig.  209,  and  Iconog.  bouddh. 
de  rinde,  I,  fig.  29,  to  the  right)  analogous  representations  of  the  same 
miracle  decorate  the  borders  of  the  stone  and  enclose  the  scene. 

(2)  See  Griffiths,  The  Paintings  oj  Ajanta,  pi.  XV  (cf.  on  the  plan  of  the 
grotto  the  letter  O  and  X,  ibid.,  pi.  IV  and  pl.  VIII)  and  Burgess,  Notes 
on  the  Bauddha  Rock  Temples  of  Ajantd,  p.  17 ;  the  paintings  of  this  cave  are 
usually  attributed  to  the  W'^  century.  —  in  Cave  II  the  walls  of  the  ante- 
chamber of  the  sanctuary  are  likewise  adorned  with  figures  of  Buddha, 
of  a  very  inferior  make  to  those  of  the  preceding  ones.  M.  Griffiths  coun- 
ted 1055  of  them,  measuring  about  0  m.  20  high  and  covering  a  surface  of 
22  square  metres  :  he  has  reproduced  some  of  them,  pl.  XXIV  (cf.  p.  28, 
and  Burgess,  loc.  cit.,  p.  35,  §  XVIII  ad  fin.).  —  One  may  immediately 
connect  with  these  frescoes  the  «  thousand  Buddhas  »  painted  on  the  vault 
of  the  grotto  no.  i  of  Murtuk,  a  specimen  of  which  Prof.  Grijnwedel  has 
reproduced  in  his  interesting  Bericht  iiber  Archseologische  Arbeiten  in  Idikut- 
schari  und  Umgebung  im  Winter  1902-1903,  pl.  XXX  :  notice  the  strangely 
stereotyped  character  of  the  support  of  this  Buddha,  affecting  both  a  cloud 
and  a  lotus. 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  i6i 

and  no  one  will  be  surprised  to  learn  that  there  it  forms  a 
pendant  to  another  of  the  eight  great  scenes,  «  the  Perfect 
Illumination  »,  symbolized  on  the  left  wall  by  the  Mdra- 
dharsham.  The  high  rehefs  of  plate  XX  merely  reproduce  it 
m  stone  :  in  imitation  of  the  painting  the  sculptor  has  not 
failed  to  fill  the  space  between  his  characters  with  leaves 
and  buds  of  pink  lotuses,  of  the  same  kind  even  as  those 
which  bear  his  superposed  rows  of  Buddhas  (').  Only  it 
will  be  observed  that  the  stem  of  the  seat  of  the  central 
figure,  at  the  bottom,  is  supported  with  both  hands  by  two 
kneeHng  ndgardjas,  both  wearing  head-dresses  of  five  ser- 
pent heads.  As  we  have  just  been  reading  the  Divydvaddna, 
their  names  immediately  occur  to  our  minds  :  they  are 
Nandaand  Upananda.  Thus  we  find  ourselves  in  possession 
of  an  explanation  satisfactory  down  to  the  details  of  the  com- 
positions. We  have  not,  as  was  thought,  to  do  with  simple 
debauches  of  piously  decorative  imagery  :  we  must  here 
recognize  representations  on  a  vast  scale,  by  reason  of  the 
space  which  the  artist  had  at  his  disposal,  of  the  «  great 
miracle  »  of  ^ravasti  (-).  This  is  indeed,  if  one  reflects 
upon  it,  the  only  orthodox  method  of  explaining  the 
simultaneous  presence  of  several  Buddhas  in  the  same  pic- 
ture, when  an  absolute  law  says  that  there  shall  never  be 

(i)  All  the  necessary  particulars  concerning  this  sculpture  are  given  oppo- 
site to  plate  XX.  In  the  Arch.  Survey  of  Western  India,  vol.  IV,  pi.  XXXVII, 
2  (cf.  ibid.,  p.  52),  will  be  found  a  drawing  of  the  opposite  wall  of  the 
same  vestibule  of  the  sanctuary,  with  its  eight  rows  of  Buddhas,  seven  of 
which  are  rows  of  seven  :  the  nagarajas  are  not  missing. 

(2)  Is  it  worth  while  to  observe  that  nowhere,  either  in  these  represen- 
tations or  in  those  considered  above,  have  we  found  any  trace  of  an  attempt 
at  an  artistic  realization  of  the  fancies  imagined  by  the  editor  of  the  Hien-yu- 
yin-yuen  king  ?  Never,  in  particular,  do  we  see  rays  which  open  out  into  lotus 
bearers  of  illusory  Buddhas  burst  from  the  «  pores  of  the  skin  »,  or  from 
the  «  navel »,  of  the  principal  character,  as  is  written  in  Schmidt's  translation 
from  the  Tibetan  D%ang-lun  (JDir  Weise  und  der  Thor,  pp.  82  and  84). 


i62  The  great  miracle 

more  than  a  single  one  at  one  time  in  each  world-system. 
It  follows  that  we  must  at  the  outset  suspect  the  exist- 
ence of  this  subject  every  time  that  we  find  ourselves  in 
the  presence  of  multiple  images  of  Buddha  :  not,  certainly, 
where  they  are  isolated  in  separate  sections  or  merely 
juxtaposed,  but  where  they  are  evidently  associated  in  the 
same  action  (*).  If  from  this  point  of  view  we  examine 
the  reliefs  and  the  frescoes  of  Ajanta,  we  shall  not  fail  to 
discover  a  whole  series  of  replicas,  somewhat  less  prolix,  but 
not  less  surely  identifiable,  than  the  preceding.  Here  we 
will  restrict  ourselves  to  citing  the  most  typical  of  these 
variants.  It  seems  that  we  shall  have  to  look  for  them  in 
the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  inner  sanctuaries  : 
«  On  the  back  wall,  between  the  left  chapel  and  antecham- 
ber [of  the  adytum  ot  cave  II],  a  large  Buddha  has  seated 
himself  under  an  dmba  (mango)  tree  with  an  Indra  on  his 
right  and  a  Bodhisattva  on  his  left  (■).  His  feet  rest  on  a 


(i)  This  restriction  is  necessary  for  three  reasons.  First,  we  must  reckon 
■with  the  progressive  crowding  together  of  images  of  Buddha  on  the  facade 
or  inner  walls  of  the  same  sanctuary  at  tlie  expense  of  various  donors.  — 
Secondly,  we  must  not  forget  the  relatively  ancient  juxtaposition  (cf. 
pi.  XXVI,  i)  of  the  seven  Buddhas  of  our  age  :  but  we  are  prepared  to  believe 
that  there  may  be  a  close  connection  between  this  motifs  and  the  u  grand 
miracle  »,  either  because  in  the  latter  the  Buddhas  prefer  to  affect  the 
number  7  in  rows  (ct.  p.  161,  n.  i  and  p.  163),  or  because  the  representa- 
tions of  the  a  seven  Buddhas  »  are  strongly  influenced  by  those  of  the 
mahd-prdtihdrya  (as  is  notably  the  case  at  Ajanta  for  the  pi.  XCI  of  Griffiths, 
in  contrast  to  pi.  LXI).  Finally,  we  do  not  pretend  do  deny  that  at  a  fairly 
late  period  there  may  have  been  sought,  in  a  mechanical  repetition  of  images 
of  the  Master,  an  automatic  accumulation  of  merit  :  but  it  is  our  opinion 
that  the  origin  of  this  inept  procedure  must  be  sought  in  the  single  motif 
■where  its  employment  was  canonical ly  justified. 

(2)  Dr.  Burgess,  he.  cit.,  p.  34,  §  XVII  :  we  think  it  necessary  to  make 
a  choice  and  say;  «  between  Brahmtl  and  Indra  »,  or  «  between  two  Bodhi- 
sattvas  »  :  but  that  can  be  decided  only  on  the  spot.  Let  us  remark  also  that 
a  mango-tree  cannot  be  a  Bodhi-druma.  The  letters  E-F  mark  the  place  of 
this  panel  on  the  plan  of  Cave  II,  given  by  Mr.  Griffiths,  pi.  XX.  e  Wmust 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  163 

white  lotus  :  a  worshipper  is  below  a  little  to  the  left.  Across 
the  top  are  seven  Buddhas  in  various  mudrds,  each  on  a 
lotus,  the  stalks  being  brought  up  from  below.  On  each 
side  of  the  Bodhi-druma,  or  sacred  tree,  are  two  Buddhas... 
Below  these,  on  each  side,  were  two  pairs  more  »,  etc.  We 
borrow  this  description  from  the  notes  of  Dr.  Burgess  : 
it  would  not  be  possible  to  find  a  better  one  for  the  «  great 
miracle  »  of  ^ravasti,  including  the  mango-tree  of  the  Pali 
tradition.  It  is  again  the  same  subject  which  in  Cave  XVII, 
on  the  right  wall  of  the  vestibule  of  the  sanctuary,  forms 
a  pendant  to  the  no  less  famous  miracle  of  <c  the  descent 
from  heaven  »  (') ;  and  this  replica,  unfortunately  very 
much  damaged,  contains  also  a  topical  and  rather  excep- 
tional detail  :  «  The  right  end  of  the  antechamber  »,  says 
Dr.  Burgess  (^),    «  is  painted  with  standing  and  sitting 
Buddhas  ;  the  lower  portion,  however,  is  destroyed,  except 
a  fragment  at  each  end.   The  portion  remaining   at  the 
right  side  is  very  curious,  representing  a  number  of  Digam- 
bara   Jaina   hhikshus  helping    forward    an   old    fat    one, 
and   carrying  the  rajoharana  or  pichi,  a  besom  to  sweep 
away  insects,  etc.  Most  of  them  are  shaven-headed  and 
stark  naked.  One  or  two,  who  wear  their  hair,  are  clothed. 
On  the  extreme  left  are  an  elephant  and  a  horse  with  two 
men.  The  intermediate  painting  is  completely  destroyed  ». 
By  now  it  is  not  difficult  for  us  to  recognize  —  exactly  as 


add  that  the  fresco  is  approximately  dated  «  by  an  inscription  painted  in  the 
alphabet  of  the  VI"»  century  ». 

(i)  The  DevAvtt&ra  is  there  represented  in  three  stages,  as  on  the  pillar  ot 
Barhut  (Cunningh/m.  Stupa  of  Barhut,  pi.  XVII)  :  at  the  top  is  seen  the 
«  Preaching  to  the  Trayastrira^a  Gods  «,  in  the  middle  the  «  Descent  from 
Heaven  »,  at  the  bottom  the'«  Questions  to  ^anputra  ».  Only  these  last 
two  episodes  are  represented  on  Ghiffiths'  plate  LIV ;  for  the  plan  of 
Cave  XVII  cf.  his  plate  LIII. 

(2)  Loc.  cit.,  p.  69,  §  XXXIII, 

13 


1 64  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

on  plate  LXVIII  of  the  Anc.  Mon.  of  India  (')  —  at  the 
left  at  least  an  indication  ofthe  royal  presence  of  Prasenajit, 
to  the  right  the  demoralized  troop  of  Tirthyas  ;  and  doubt- 
less the  obese  and  naked  old  man,  whose  steps  these  have 
to  support,  is  the  Purana  Ka^yapa  whom   the   Buddhist 
legend  denotes  as  their  leader  and  whose  defeat  is  about 
to  have  for  penalty  an  ignominious  suicide  (^).  It  is  again 
he  whom  we  believe  we  can  identify  on  the  left  side  of 
the  new  panel  of  plate  XIX,  i,  by  his  shaven  head,  his  naked- 
ness and,  especially,  by  his  strange  backward  posture,  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  devout  attitude  of  the  Buddhist 
monk  who  forms  a  pendant  to  him  on  the  other  side.  But, 
on  the  whole,  representations  of  monks  belonging  to  other 
sects  are  rather  rare  in  Buddhist  art,  even  where  their 
presence  would  be  most  expected  :  and  the  pictures  ofthe 
Master's  triumphs  willingly  dispense  with   the  not  very 
edifying  spectacle  ofthe  vanquished.  It  would  be  only  the 
more  desirable  that  we  should  possess  a  good  reproduction 
of  what  is  still  to  be  found  of  this  Ajanta  fresco.  Lacking 
this,  we  must  content  ourselves  with  giving  a  sketch  of 
one   of    those    which  adorn  the  principal    archway    of 
Cave  IX  (pi.  XXI,  i).  We  know  the  curious  aspect  of  that 
little  subterranean  chapel,  with  its  three  naves,  its  portal 
gallery  and  its  stupa  marking  the  position  ofthe  altar  :  the 
warm,  ruddy  tones  of  its  frescoes  give  the  finishing  touches 


(i)  At  the  bottom  of  the  upper  compartment  on  the  left  we  perceive, 
indeed,  in  addition  to  the  two  nagarajas  who  are  holding  up  the  stem  of 
the  central  lotus,  i^t,  at  the  left  of  the  spectator.  King  Prasenajit,  who  is 
recognizable  by  his  parasol-bearer  and  his  elephant,  and  2""^,  facing  him, 
also  seated  upon  a  stool,  Purana  Ki^yapa,  in  the  form  of  a  fat,  naked  man, 
with  shaven  head,  who  is  supported  from  behind  under  the  arms  by  one  of  his 
companions.  We  may  connect  with  this  type  that  of  the  same  person  in  Art 
g.-b.  du  Gandh.  (fig.  261  and  225  c),  and  read,  ibid.,  pp.  529  and  537, 
remarks  on  the  rarety  of  these  representations  of  «  sectarians  ». 

(2)  Divydvaddna,  p.  165 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  1^5 

to  the  illusion  of  an  ancient  basilica.  Above  the  pillars, 
where  the  triforium  should  be,  ranges  a  series  of  pain- 
tings representing  hieratic  groups  (').  One,  almost  com- 
plete, which  is  represented  by  our  plate,  has  the  advan- 
tage of  uniting  only  the  essential  elements  of  the  subject, 
namely,  the  three  Buddhas  with  their  feet  placed  on  lotuses, 
and  —  at  each  side  of  the  one  in  the  centre  of  the  pic- 
ture, who  is  teaching,  and  of  whom  the  two  others  are,  and 
can  only  be,  illusory  emanations  —  the  two  traditional  divi- 
nities, voluntarily  reduced  to  the  humble  role  of  flyflap- 
holders.  Is  it  necessary  to  observe  that  this  is  exactly  the 
same  distribution  of  persons  Q  that  we  find  again  on  the 
lower  row  of  plate  XIX,  2  ? 

All  the  specimens  of  which  we  have  just  been  speaking, 
both  from  Benares  and  from  Ajanta,  can  in  bulk  be  dated, 
in  accordance  with  the  alphabet  of  the  inscriptions  on  some 
of  them,  as  of  the  V"  or  ¥1""  century  of  our  era.  We  shall 
not  hesitate,  in  spite  of  time  and  distance,  to  connect 
with  them  the  numerous  groups  which  decorate  the  princi- 
pal wall  of  the  highest  sculptured  gallery  of  Boro-Budur 
(IX"*  century).  Almost  the  whole  of  this  wall  is  covered 
with  variations  on  the  theme  of  the  «  Great  miracle  »  of 


(i)  Cf.  Griffiths,  Paintings  of  Ajanta,  pll.  XXXVIII  and  XXXIX. 

(2)  The  only  differences  to  be  observed  consist,  i^'  in  the  somewhat 
capricious  detail  (cf.  p.  167)  of  the  orientation  of  the  acolyte  Buddhas,  turned 
or  not  towards  the  central  Buddha ;  2""!  in  the  fact  that  the  latter  has  a  lotus 
not  for  a  seat,  but  only  for  a  footstool.  This  kind  of  throne  and  this  sitting 
position  «  in  the  European  mode  »  are  current  peculiarities  of  the  local 
style,  although  they  are  not  unknown  to  the  school  of  Benares  and  although 
■we  may  have  found  them  even  so  far  as  in  the  great  Buddha  of  the  Chandi 
Mendut  near  Boro-Budur  in  Java.  They  constitute  all  the  less  an  obstacle  to 
the  proposed  attribution  since  the  central  lotus,  while  treated  as  a  simple  little 
bench,  is  nevertheless  usually  supported  by  the  two  classical  ndgardjas  (cf. 
for  example,  in  Arch.  Survey  West.  India,  IV,  pi.  XXXVI,  2,  the  Buddha 
craAed  on  the  stupa  of  cave  XXVI  of  Ajinta,  and  below,  p.  168). 


i66  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

Qravasti ;  and  this  profusion  of  replicas  is  sufficiently  justi- 
fied by  the  enormous  surface  which  the  sculptors  of  the 
monuments  had  received  instructions  to  decorate.  We 
content  ourselves  here  with  reproducing  the  group  placed 
at  the  left  of  the  eastern  staircase,  which  we  know  was 
that  of  the  facade  (pi.  XXII).  On  the  other  side  an  analo- 
gous group  forms  a  pendant  thereto,  except  that  it  is  still 
more  complex  and  contains  no  less  than  seventeen  images 
of  the  Blessed  One.  The  general  arrangement  of  these 
compositions  is  a  compromise  —  doubtless  imposed  by 
the  dimensions  of  the  rectangular  panels,  which  were 
much  wider  than  they  were  high  —  between  the  line  taken 
by  plates  XIX,  2  and  XX  and  that  by  plate  XXI,  i  :  but  on 
one  side  or  the  other  all  the  topical  features  are  to  be  found. 
This  symmetrical  reduplication  of  Buddhas,  supported  by 
lotuses  and  surrounded  by  divinities,  suffices  to  establish 
not  only  the  undeniable  relationship  of  the  schools,  but 
also  the  fundamental  identity  of  the  subjects. 

Inevitable,  again,  is  the  connection  with  many  of  the 
great  rock-sculptures  of  northern  China,  less  remote  in  time, 
but  not  less  distant  in  space,  from  their  Indian  prototypes. 
We  shall  note  especially,  among  the  gigantic  images  which 
decorate  the  grottos  of  Ta-t  ong-fu  (V"  century),  those 
recently  published  by  M.  Chavannes,  which,  as  he  informs 
us,  owe  the  possibility  of  their  being  so  clearly  photograph- 
ed to  the  fact  that  the  crumbhng  of  the  rocky  facade  has  left 
them  open  to  the  sky  (pi.  XXI,  2).  The  presence  of  a 
second  Buddha  standing  at  the  left  of  the  great  seated  one, 

—  the  acolyte  on  the  right  has  disappeared  in  the  fallen  debris 

—  is  sufficient  to  recall  the  mahd-prdtihdrya  :  and  the  innu- 
merables  figures  of  the  Blessed  One,  superposed  upon  a 
kind  of  band,  which  form  nimbuses  and  aureoles  on  the 
flamboyant  background  of  the  tejas,  finally  convince  us 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  167 

that  we  have  to  deal  with  a  representation  of  this  miracle 
in  the  traditional  form  of  the  multiplication  of  Buddhas  (*). 
All  these  works  of  art,  painted  or  carved,  whether  Chi- 
nese, Japanese,  or  Indian,  represent  more  or  less,  in  fact,  — 
to  make  use  of  the  expression  employed  in  Hterature,  —  the 
vaipulya  method  of  sculptured  tradition.  Let  us  return  to 
our  starting  point,  I  mean  to  the  quite  summary  lesson 
presented  to  us  by  the  stele  of  the  Archaeological  Survey 
(pi.  XIX,  i)  :  we  shall  see  connected  with  it  also  a  series  of 
replicas  no  less  sober  than  itself.  A  carving,  which  we 
believe  to  be  unpublished,  will  furnish  us  with  a  type  of 
them,  at  least  as  far  as  Magadha  is  concerned  (pi.  XXIII,  i). 
A  great  Buddha,  seated,  in  the  attitude  for  teaching,  on  a  lo- 
tus whose  stem  is  flanked  by  two  Nagarajas,  is  inserted  be- 
tween two  other  images  of  himself,  with  feet  also  resting  on 
lotuses.  The  only  novelty  introduced  is  that  the  two  aco- 
lyte Buddhas,  instead  of  confronting  the  spectator,  as  in  plate 
XIX,  I,  or  being  turned  towards  the  central  person,  as  in 
plate  XXI,  I ,  or  slightly  turned  from  him,  as  in  plate  XIX, 
2,  are  looking  in  exactly  opposite  directions.  This  slab,  of 
rather  rude  workmanship  and  late  date  C),  will  serve  as  a 
perfectly  natural  transition  to  the  miniatures  of  the  Nepa- 
lese  or  Bengal  manuscripts  of  the  XP-XIII"  centuries. 


(i)  We  should  like  to  connect  with  these  groups  from  Ta-t'ong-fu  others 
somewhat  later,  which  decorate  the  grottos  of  the  pass  of  Long-Men 
(Ho-nan),  of  which  also  M.  Chavannes  has  brought  back  photographs 
taken  in  the  course  of  his  last  mission  in  China  (see,  already,  Toung  Pao, 
Oct  1908,  fig.  4;  cf.  Journal  asiatique,  July-August  1912,  figg.  1-4;  Bull. 
Ecole  jr.  Extr.-Or.,  V,  1905,  fig.  36)  :  but  here  the  two  acolyte  Buddhas 
have  been  changed  into  two  simple  monks !  The  transformation  might  in 
strictness  be  explained  by  scrupulous  orthodoxy  (cf.  above,  pp.  161-162). 

(2)  For  a  reproduction  of  an  analogous  group,  of  the  same  provenanee 
and  likewise  preserved  in  the  Museum  of  Calcutta,  see  Et.  sur  I'Iconogr. 
bouddh.  de  I'Inde,  I,  fig.  28,  where  these  three  Buddhas  are  placed  just  below 
a  representation  of  the  Nativity. 


1 68  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

where  the  representation  of  the  «  great  miracle  »  of  Qravasti 
by  three  Buddhas  back  to  back  has  become  the  constant 
rule  Q).  The  identification  of  our  plate  XXIII,  i,  which 
already  flowed  naturally  from  the  analogy  of  the  new  stele 
of  Sarnath,  receives,  on  the  other  hand,  an  interesting  con- 
firmation in  extremis  from  these  latest  indigenous  manifes- 
tations of  Buddhist  art. 

Whilst  definitely  taking  this  turn  in  eastern  India,  our 
subject  became  in  the  West  by  degrees  stereotyped  under 
a  form  equally  abridged,  but  sensibly  different.  The  place 
occupied  by  EUas  and  Moses  in  the  Christian  pictures  of 
the  Transfiguration  is  now,  in  the  representations  of  the 
Buddhist  «  great  miracle  »,  no  longer  held  by  the  two 
acolyte  Buddhas,  but  by  two  divine  attendants.  The  ima- 
gery of  the  valley  of  the  Ganges  had  reduced  their  part  to 
almost  nothing,  or  even  omitted  it  entirely  :  here,  on  the 
contrary,  they  end  by  figuring  alone  at  the  side  of  the 
Master,  standing  on  lateral  lotuses  and  retaining  in  their 
hands  their  fly-flappers.  As  to  the  central  Buddha,  at  one 
time  he  continues  to  sit  in  the  Indian  manner  upon  a 
padma  like  that  of  plates  XIX-XX;  at  other  times,  and  more 
frequently,  he  is  installed  on  a  throne  after  the  manner  of 
Europeans,  as  in  plate  XXI,  i,  and  only  uses  the  necessary 
lotus  as  a  footstool  :  but  nevertheless  the  two  traditional 
Nagarajas  continue  to  hold  up  its  stem.  We  borrow  from  a 
mural  sculpture  of  Kuda  the  most  reduced  type  of  the  first 
variant  (pi.  XXIII,  2)  :  ano  less  summary  specimen  of  the 
second  would  be  furnished  by  one  of  the  caves  of  Kon- 
divt6  O-  But,  above  all,  we  must  recognize  that  all  the  cave- 


(i)  Cf.  above,  p.  154,  n.  i. 

(2)  See  Bdrgess,  A.  S.  W.  I.,  IV,  pi.  XLIII,  I,  left  part  (cf.  iUd.,  p.  71). 
Cf.  the  fuller  replicas  of  Kanheri,  ihid.,  fig,  22;  Budih.  Art  in  India,  fig.  60, 
3nd  Cave  Temples  of  India,  pi.  LVI  (cf.  ibid.,  p.  358),  etc. 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  169 

temples  of  western  India  are  covered  with  representations  of 
this  kind.  On  this  point  it  is  sufficient  to  refer  to  the  testi- 
mony, which  no  one  will  think  of  challenging,  of  Fer- 
gusson  and  Burgess.  Along  with  them  we  might  gather 
an  ample  harvest  of  rephcas  of  the  «  great  miracle  ».  If 
we  do  no  undertake  to  draw  up  a  hst  from  their  descrip- 
tions or  from  the  too  cursory  notes  which  we  formerly 
found  occasion  to  take,  it  is  because  on  these  sculptures  of 
a  late  period  there  is  always  reason  to  fear  contamination 
of  subjects  ('). 

IV 

We  have  followed  up  the  evolution  of  the  subject  and 
its  variants  from  the  V""  century  of  our  era  to  the  final 
extinction  of  Buddhist  art  in  India.  Could  we  not  now,  after 
having  brought  the  course  of  its  history  as  far  down  as 
possible,  endeavour  to  remount  towards  its  origin  and  seek 
in  the  preceding  schools,  beginning  with  that  of  Gandhara, 
the  prototypes  of  the  monuments  which  we  have  just  iden- 
tified? The  enterprise  imposes  itself  upon  us,  and  there 
seems  to  be  no  way  of  escape.  Such  fortunately  is,  so  far  as 


(i)  In  fact  these  contaminations  have  not  failed  to  take  place.  The  Buddha 
of  the  mahdprdiiharya  of  Qravasti  makes  the  gesture  of  instruction,  exactly  as 
does  the  Buddha  of  the  Dharmacakra-pravartana  of  Benares  :  nothingfurther 
•was  required  to  provoque  confusions  and  exchanges  between  the  two  motifs 
originally  characterized,  the  one  by  the  lotus  with  the  Nagarajas,  the  other 
by  the  wheel -with  the  gazelles  On  plate  164  oi  Anc.  Mm.  India,  by  the 
side  of  the  subject  of  our  plate  XXIII,  2,  we  find  some  «  First  Preachings  » 
treated  as  «  Great  Miracles  »,  except  that  the  gazelles  have  replaced  the 
Nigarijas  on  each  side  of  the  lotus ;  on  the  facade  of  the  great  temple  of 
Karli  (ibid.,  pi.  168)  the  gazelles  have  even  been  intercalated  above  Naga- 
rijas !  From  this  it  may  be  conceived  with  what  precautions  we  must 
surround  ourselves  before  risking  a  firm  identification  from  descriptions 
jilone. 


lyo  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

Buddhist  iconography  is  concerned,  the  routine  force  of 
tradition,  that,  in  order  to  succeed  in  this  second  part  of 
our  task,  it  will  suffice  to  determine  with  exactitude  the 
distinctive  feature  common  to  all  the  verified  represen- 
tations of  the  mahdprdtihdrya.  Now,  if  you  turn  over  the 
plates  afresh,  you  will  very  soon  observe  that  what 
characterizes  them  above  all  is  the  special  form  of  this 
lotus  «  with  a  thousand  petals  ('),  as  broad  as  a  chariot 
wheel,  of  solid  gold,  with  a  diamond  stem  »,  stand- 
ing out  entirely  from  the  pHnth.  Whether  supported 
or  not  by  the  two  Nagarajas,  whose  masterpiece  it  is,  it 
constantly  serves  as  a  throne  —  or  at  least  as  a  footstool 
—  to  a  Buddha  eated  in  the  attitude  of  teaching.  By  this 
sign  we  must  henceforth  retrospectively  identify  a  whole 
series  of  Greco-Buddhist  stelae,  the  greater  number  of 
which  have  already  been  published,  but  not  explained, 
and  which  for  the  convenience  of  the  reader  we  have  here 
collected  together  before  his  eyes  (pll.  XXIV-XXVIII,  i). 
The  most  sober  type  (and  the  one  which  most  closely 
resembles  that  of  plate  XXIII,  2)  presents  to  us  a  Buddha, 
flanked  simply,  in  addition  to  the  usual  worshippers,  by  two 
standing  divinities  (*),  who,  like  him,  are  sheltered  under 

(i)  Divydvaddna,  p.  162,  11.  9-1 1.  Cf.the  epithet  of  Buddha  in  Kshemen- 
dra's  Dagdvatdracarita,  IX,  54  :  Bhunirgata-pratata-kdncana-padma-prstha- 
padmdsanastha... 

(2)  We  may  connect  with  this  group  that  of  the  British  Museum,  repro- 
duced by  Dr.  Burgess  (</oMr».  of  Indian  Art  and  Jnd.,  no.  62,  1898,  pi.  8,  2 
=zAnc.  Mon.  India,  pi.  92,  in  the  middle)  :  the  teaching  Buddha  and  the  two 
divinities  are  seated,  or  standing,  on  the  enlarged  pericarp  of  a  lotus  flower. 
In  the  acolyte  at  the  right  we  recognise  Brahma  by  his  head-dress  and  his 
water  vessel,  in  the  one  on  the  left  Qakra  by  his  diadem.  The  two  worship- 
pers are  withdrawn  to  the  bottom  of  the  stele  and  separated  by  what  is 
usually  the  stalk  of  the  central  lotus,  but  is  here  treated  as  a  pyre.  —  We 
pay  no  regard  to  another  image  (that  of  the  Calcutta  Museum),  likewise 
published  by  Dr.  Bdrgess(/.  7.^,/.,  no.  69,  Jan.  1900,  Hg.  24=  Buddh.  Art 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  lyi 

parasols,  adorned  with  garlands  (pi.  XXIV,  i).  On  plate 
XXIV,  2  we  scarcely  divine  the  suggestion  of  the  lotuses  on 
which  rest  the  seat  of  the  Master  and  the  feet  of  his  two  aco- 
lytes :  on  the  other  hand,  two  other  busts  of  the  Blessed 
One  are  interposed  in  the  hollows  delimited  by  the  Unes 
of  their  shoulders  :  except  for  the  exchange  of  place  be- 
tween the  two  gods  and  the  two  magical  Buddhas,  it  is  evi- 
dently the  same  group  as  on  plates  XIX,  2  (first  row)  and 
XXI,  I .  At  other  times  the  ingenious  art  of  the  sculptor 
erects  graceful  architectures  (pi.  XXV)  above  the  three  prin- 
cipal characters  :  doubtless  we  must  here  recognize  the 
pratihdrya-mandapa,  built  expressly  for  the  occasion  of  the 
miracle;  but  we  remain  free  to  admire  in  it,  together  with 
the  Mula-Sarvastivadins,  the  royal  munificence  of  Prase- 
najit,  or,  with  the  Theravadins,  the  divine  skill  of  Vigvakar- 
man  (').  At  one  time  (*)  it  is  a  simple  portico  that  presides 
above  the  three  seated  figures  (pi.  XXV,  2^.  At  another  time 
bolder  constructions  lodge  beneath  their  domes  or  arches 
images  of  Buddha  or  even  accessory  episodes  (pll.  XXV,  i 
and  XXVI,  i).  On  this  last  plate  the  two  divinities,  again 
standing,  have  each  provided  themselves  with  a  long  gar- 
land, which  we  shall  find  in  their  hands  on  all  the  reproduc- 
tions that  we  still  have  to  examine  (pll.  XXVI,  2-XXVIII, 
i).  The  latter,  like  those  first  cited,  place  the  scene  —  or 
rather,  the  vision  —  in  the  open  sky  :  at  the  most,  they 


in  India,  fig.  112)  :  here  Buddha  is  indeed  seated  between  the  two  worshippers 
on  the  characteristic  lotus,  but  —  by  an  exception  which,  for  the  rest,  is 
since  the  last  excavations  of  Takht-i-Bahai  (cf.  below,  p.  172,  note  i)  not 
unique  —he  is  making  the  gesture  of  meditation,  instead  of  that  of  instruction. 

(i)  Divydvaddna,  p.  155,  1.  18  ;  Jdtaka,  IV,  p.  265, 1.  10. 

(2)  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  arrangement  of  the  attendants  we 
may  connect  with  this  plate  the  fragment  published  by  Dr  J  Ph.  Vogel  in 
Archxol.  Survey  Report,  1^0^-1904,  pi.  LXVIII  b  (with  the  Nigarajas)  and  c. 


172  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

shelter  some  small  figures  under  aerial  sediculse.  However, 
the  number  of  divine  spectators  increases  in  a  striking  man- 
ner. Now  they  are  placed  one  above  the  other  on  their  lotus 
supports,  profiting  by  all  the  liberty  which  a  picture  of 
apparitions  allows  to  be  taken  with  the  laws  of  perspective. 
At  the  same  time  the  central  Buddha  becomes  bigger,  and 
his  figure  still  more  disproportionate  to  his  surroundings. 
The  garlands  which  used  to  hang  above  his  head  no  longer 
suffice;  there  is  now  added  a  crown,  borne  by  two  little 
genii,  with  or  without  wings;  once  even  other  marvellous 
beings,  with  their  busts  terminating  in  foUage,  hold  still 
higher  a  parasol  of  honour.  Lastly,  among  the  images  which 
have  emanated  from  the  Blessed  One,  some,  as  if  better  to 
emphasize  their  supernatural  and  magical  character,  are 
surrounded  by  an  irradiation  in  the  form  of  an  aureole 
composed  of  other  Buddhas  ('). 

These  specimens  are  more  than  are  required  to  prove 
that  we  have  not  to  deal  with  the  fancy  of  some  isolated 
artist,  but,  in  reality,  with  a  traditional  subject,  constantly 


(i)  See  the  two  upper  corners  of  plate  XXVIII,  i  and  compare  fig.  78  of 
Art.  g.-b  du  Gandh.,  and  especially  the  panel  recently  discovered  by  Dr.  D. 
B.  Spooner  at  Takht  i-Bahai  and  published  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Marshall  in  the/. 
R.  A.  S.,  Oct.  1908,  pi.  VI,  3.  Here  again  we  recognize  the  mdha-prdtihdrya. 
The  lotuses  which  once  decorated  the  bottom  of  the  slab  have  almost 
disappeared  through  the  defacement  of  the  stone;  but  it  is  not  so  with  those 
■which  support  the  characters  above,  that  is,  five  little  seated  Buddhas 
(three  of  whom  are  at  the  top  among  foliage),  and  the  two  divine  garland- 
bearers.  Byway  of  an  exception  the  principal  Buddha  affects  the  pose  of  medi- 
tation. The  front  of  his  parasol  is  curiously  adorned  with  a  crescent  moon, 
doubtless  in  order  to  emphasize  the  aerostatic  character  of  the  miracle.  But 
the  point  which  specially  holds  our  attention  is  the  indication  on  each 
side  of  his  body,  between  the  knee  and  the  shoulder,  of  four  little  BudJhas, 
standing  on  lotuses  and  arranged  obliquely  like  the  outspread  feathers  of  a 
peacock's  tail.  —  It  is  known  that  Sir  Adhel  Stein  found  this  procedure  in 
use  also  on  the  sculptures  of  Rawak  in  Chinese  Turkestan  (Ancient  Khotan, 
I,  figg.  62-65  j  cf.  Sand-buried  Ruins  of  Khotan,  frontispiece). 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  173 

reproduced  for  the  edification,  and  at  the  request,  of  the 
faithful.  The  series  of  these  examples  adjusts  itself  without 
effort  in  all  its  characteristic  features  —  seat,  attitude,  ges- 
ture, surroundings  of  Buddha,  etc,  —  to  that  in  which  we 
have  already  with  certainty  recognized  versions  of  the  «  great 
miracle  »  of  Qravasti.  By  virtue  of  the  close  relationship 
which  we  have  often  had  an  opportunity  of  noting  between 
the  Greco-Buddhist  sculpture  and  the  tradition  of  the 
Mula-Sarvastivadins  we  must  more  than  ever  appeal  to  the 
Divydvaddna  for  information  concerning  the  identity  of  the 
various  personages.  In  the  two  «  kings  of  the  serpents  », 
who  at  times  support  the  stem  of  the  great  lotus  (pll.XXV, 
2 ;  XXVII ;  XXVIII,  i),  we  naturally  continue  to  greet  our 
old  acquaintances  cc  Nanda  and  his  junior  »,  either  accom- 
panied or  not  by  their  wives.  From  these  «  fallen  beings  » 
we  pass  to  the  human  bystanders.  It  has  been  asked  whe- 
ther the  two  lay  devotees  without  nimbuses  and  of  different 
sexes,  who  on  plate  XXVIII,  i  surround  the  seat  of  Buddha, 
are  not  merely  donors  of  the  stele  Q.  But  it  will  be  noti- 
ced that  their  point  of  support  is,  like  that  of  the  rest  of  the 
figures,  the  enlarged  pericarp  of  a  lotus  :  they  appear,  there- 
fore;, to  form  an  integral  part  of  the  scene.  For  the  same 
reason  we  must  refuse  to  see  in  them  anonymous  wor- 
shippers :  rather  should  we  seek  here  —  exactly  as  in  their 
kneeling  counterparts  on  plate  XXIV,  i  —  that  Luhasu- 


(i)  This  identification  was  proposed  incidentally  by  Dr.  J.  Ph.  Vogel, 
A.  S.  I.  Rep.,  1903-1904,  p.  257  :  but,  in  a  general  way,  we  believe  it  safer 
to  look  for  donors  only  on  the  bases  of  stelae  (cf.  pll.  XXV,  i ;  XXVI,  i,  and 
XXVU)  or  the  pedestals  of  statues.  —  On  the  other  hand,  the  hypothesis  of 
Dr.  Vogel  {ibid  ,  n.  3)  which  suggests  the  identity  of  the  four  nimbused 
figures  seated  on  the  lower  row  of  the  same  stele  (pi.  XXVIII,  i)  with  the 
four  Lokapilas,  seems  to  us  most  probable  and  confirmed  by  analogy  with 
plates  XXVI  2,  and  XXVII. 


174  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

datta  and  his  wife,  «  the  mother  of  Riddhila  »  ('),  who  in 
turn  and  in  vain  proposed  to  the  Blessed  One  to  accompUsh 
the  miracle  in  his  stead.  Likewise,  on  plate  XXV,  2,  the 
text  expressly  invites  us  to  recognize  in  the  monk  and  nun 
kneeling  at  each  side  of  the  Master  the  agra^rdvikd  Utpala- 
varna  Q  and  the  agragr&vaka  Maudgalyayana,  who  also 
asked,  and  saw  themselves  successively  refused,  the  same 
authorization.  It  is,  then,  these  same  four  personages, 
rather  than  commonplace  worshippers,  whom  we  should 
prefer  to  recognize  on  plate  XXIV,  2.  We  should  be  equally 
ready  to  find  King  Prasenajit,  the  impartial  (')  president 
of  this  public  manifestation  :  but,  even  where  the  num- 
ber of  spectators  is  increased,  his  royal  equipage  never 
appears,  as  later,  to  betray  his  incognito  (*).  In  front  of  the 
four  men  of  good  caste  seated  at  the  bottom  of  plate  XXVI, 
2,  it  seems  that  we  are  rather,  as  on  plates  XXVII  and 
XXVIII,  I,  in  the  presence  of  the  four  guardian  gods 
of  our  terrestrial  horizon.  Among  the  crowd  of  divinities 
we  shall  recognize  immediately  on  plate  XXVII,  above 
the  right  shoulder  of  Buddha,  his  faithful  companion 
Vajrapani,  to  whom  also  by  certain  texts  a  part  is  given 
in  the  story,  he  being  made  to  intervene  in  order  to  has- 
ten the  denouement  Q.  The  feminine  figure  facing  him 


(i)  On  this  updsaka  and  updsiM  information  taken  from  the  Vinaya  of  the 
Mula-Sarvastivadins  will  be  found  in  the  already  quoted  article  of  M.  Ed. 
HuBER  (B.  £.  F.  E.-O.,  VI,   1906,  pp.  9  sqq.). 

(2)  For  this  title  given  to  Utpalavarna,  cf.  for  example,  the  commentary 
on  the  Dhammapada,  ed.  Faosb0ll,  p.  213. 

(3)  For  this  impartiality  cf.  Divyavadana,  p.  146,  1.  23. 

(4)  Cf.  above,  p.  164,  note  i. 

(5)  According  to  the  Divydvaddna  (pp.  163-164)  the  yaksha-sendpati  who, 
understanding  the  impossibility  of  otherwise  overcoming  the  obstinacy  of 
the  Tirthyas,  raises  a  violent  storm  to  disperse  them,  is  called  Pancika;  but 
the  Bodhisattvdvad&m-Mpalatd  calls  him  Vajrapini  (XIII,  57).  Only  we  must 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  175 

would  perplex  us  greatly,  did  not  her  crown  of  towers 
signalize  her  at  once  as  the  incarnate  nagara-devatd  of  Qra- 
vasti,  an  edified  witness  of  the  miracle  which  will  hence- 
forth assure  her  fame ;  it  is  in  no  other  form  that,  for  example, 
the  native  town  of  Buddha  is  seen  on  other  Greco-Bud- 
dhist bas-reliefs  (').  But  the  most  interesting  feature  to  be 
observed  is  that,  if  we  are  to  credit  the  Divydvaddna,  the 
two  chief  divine  acolytes  can  be  no  other  than  Brahma  on 
the  right  of  Buddha  and  Qakra  on  his  left.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  on  several  replicas  the  sculptors  obviously  emphasize 
this  identification  by  the  aid  of  the  usual  procedures  of  the 
school :  to  the  much  bejewelled  turban  of  Indra  they  oppose, 
as  is  the  custom,  the  chignon  of  Brahma,  or  they  even 
endeavour  to  designate  the  latter  expressly  by  the  indica- 
tion of  a  water-vessel  or  of  a  book  (*). 


warn  the  reader  that  this  stanza  vasantatilakd,  as  it  is  given  in  the  Bibl. 
Indica,  I,  v,  p.  427,  has  no  kind  of  plausible  meaning.  Prof.  S.  Levi  has  kind- 
ly restored  the  text  for  us,  by  the  help  of  the  Tibetan  translation  on  the 
opposite  page.  It  should  read  (the  corrections  are  indicated  by  the  italics)  : 

Atrintare  Bhagavatah  satatam  vipaksiw 
Sarvatmani  ksapanakaw  avadharya  Yaksah  | 
/Titpto^ravii/avrtavarsavarai^  cakara 
Vidrivya  randhracaranan  bhuvi  Vajrapinih  |1 

We  should  translate  :  «  In  the  meanwhile,  perceiving  that  the  Sectarians 
persisted  in  remaining  obstinate  adversaries  of  the  Blessed  One,  the  Yaksha 
Vajrapini,  raising  a  violent  storm  accompanied  by  rain,  dispersed  them, 
and  forced  them  to  seek  a  shelter  in  the  hollows  in  the  earth  ». 

(i)  See  Art  g.-h.  du  Gandh.,  figg.  183-184  a,  and  p.  360. 

(2)  Cf.  the  procedure  of  distinction  employed  ibid.,  figg.  152,  1J4-156, 
164  fl  (cycle  of  the  nativity),  197  (march  to  Vajrasana),  212  (invitation  to 
the  preaching),  243  (preaching  to  the  Trayastrimgas),  264  (descent  from 
heaven),  where  we  know  that  we  have  to  deal  at  the  same  time  with  ^akra, 
the  Indra  of  the  Gods  (cf.  fig.  246),  and  with  Brahmd,  the  Qihhin.  In  the 
particular  case  with  which  we  are  concerned  their  positions  are  at  times 
exchanged  from  one  stele  to  another  (cf.  plate  XXIV  with  plate  XXV  and 
p.  170,  note  2),  either  because  on  this  point  the  tradition  was  uncertain  or 


176  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

It  would  take  too  long  to  enter  further  into  the  details 
of  each  variant;  and  besides  on  this  point  we  may  refer  to 
the  notices  which  accompany  the  plates  :  only,  we  should 
wish  to  be  allowed  to  make  three  remarks  of  a  general 
character.  The  first  bears  on  the  importance  which  already 
in  the  school  of  Gandhara  we  have  been  led  to  attribute  to 
the  laksham,  or  sign  of  recognition  :  it  seems  indeed  that 
here  we  find  a  fresh  proof  of  the  antiquity  and  wide  exten- 
sion of  this  proceeding  (').  In  this  very  case  it  is  a  lotus 
with  a  stem  rising  from  the  ground  or  from  the  waters,  that 
serves  as  a  distinctive  mark  for  a  whole  series  of  monu- 
ments ands  has  allowed  us  to  follow  the  series  for  more 
than  a  thousand  years,  through  the  four  corners  of  the 
peninsula.  It  is  quite  exceptional  that,  as  on  plate  XXV,  2, 
the  peduncle  of  the  flower  should  be  hidden  and  its  peri- 
carp covered  by  a  cushion  :  and,  if  the  artists  of  western 
India  prefer  that  Buddha  should  cause  his  teaching  to  be 
heard  from  the  height  of  a  throne  (simhdsana),  the  typical 
padma  is  retained  at  least  as  a  stool  for  his  feet.  Henceforth, 
therefore,  we  may  rank  this  «  lotus  emergent  and  usually 
attended  by    two   Nagarajas   »,  to    use   heraldic    terms, 
side  by  side  with,  for  example,  the  «  wheel  flanked  by  two 
gazelles,  either  back  to  back  or  face  to  face  » ,  among  the 
specific  symbols  of  the  great  events  of  Buddha's  life.  In  the 
second  place,  this  identification  seems  to   us  to  confirm 
another  rule  which  we  had  thought  ourselves  in  a  position 
to  lay  down,  and  in  accordance  with  which  there  is  scarcely 
any  Gandharian  bas-rehef,  however  passive  and  motionless 
the  characters  therein  may  be,  wich  does  not,  even  under 


because  there  had  been  a  confusion,  which  is  always  easy,  between  the  right 
and  the  left  of  the  statue  and  those  of  the  spectator. 
(1)  Artgr.-b.  du  Gandh.,  p.  607. 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  177 

the  most  strictly  iconographic  appearances,  conceal  the 
story  of  some  episode  in  the  legend  of  Buddha.  We  shall 
be  the  more  readily  excused  for  recalling  the  fact,  inas- 
much as  we  are  the  most  to  blame  for  having  once  ranged 
among  the  simply  decorative  motives,  in  default  of  find- 
ing a  better  place,  several  of  the  stelae  which  now  assume 
for  us  a  definite  meaning  and  one  of  legendary  value, 
as  being  versions  of  the  «  great  miracle  »  at  Qravasti('). 
But  at  the  same  time  —  and  this  third  observation  is 
the  most  important  of  all  —  it  is  to  be  feared  that  we 
must  relinquish  the  idea  of  indubitably  distinguishing, 
in  the  whole  repertory  of  the  Greco-Buddhist  school,  an 
iconolatric  group  of  «  Buddha  between  two  Bodhisattvas  ». 
As  far  as  concerns  the  great  scene  of  the  descent  from 
heaven  at  Sarika^ya,  the  texts  had  already  forced  us  to  recog- 
nize in  the  two  divine  acolytes  of  the  Master  the  gods 
Brahma  and  Qakra.  Here  again  ought  not  the  same  evidence 
to  constrain  us  to  accept  the  same  identification?  Then 
will  disappear  our  last  hope  of  discovering  by  the  side  of 
the  Blessed  One  an  Indo-Greek  Avalokitecvara  or  a  Mafi- 
ju?ri,  as  plates  XXIV,  i  and  XXVI,  i  seem  specially  to  invite 
us  to  do.  In  fact,  all  that  we  can  say  is  that  we  beUewe  we 
discern  already  on  these  stelae  in  the  type,  head-dress,  attri- 
butes, meditative  or  pensive  pose  of  the  attendants  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  procedure  which  later  served  to  represent, 
and  to  differentiate  from  one  another,  the  great  Mahaya- 
nic  divinities  :  but  methodically  we  may  not  go  further  and 
light-heartedly  oppose  to  the  peremptory  assertions  of  the 
texts  any  quasi-gratuitous  conjectures.  Even  the  sign  of  the 
urnd,  so  distinctly  marked  on  the  forehead  of  the  acolytes 
in  plates  XXIV,  i  and  XXV,  2  fails  to  induce  us  to  lay 


(i)  Cf.  ibid.,  figg.  76-79  and  p.  479. 


178  tHE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

aside  this  prudent  reserve.  So  long  as  the  sculptures  do  not 
furnish  us  with  an  image  bearing  a  written  inscription,  the 
verbal  statements  of  the  Scriptures  will  always  take  prece- 
dence over  their  mute  velleities  of  expression.  Likewise,  the 
more  we  advance  in  famiharity  with  the  old  artists  of  the 
north-west  of  India,  the  nearer  are  we  to  believing  that  the 
names  of  Avalokitecvara  and  Mafijuf  ri  were  as  strange  to 
their  thought  as  to  that  of  the  compilers  of  the  Divyavaddna 
and  the  Mahdvastu. 

V 

It  will  be  felt  how  far  this  question  passes  beyond  the 
hmits  of  the  present  article,  and  we  will  not  here  insist  upon 
it  further.  All  that  remains  to  ask  ourselves,  in  order  to 
complete  the  study  of  the  representations  of  the  mahd-prd- 
tihdrya,  is  whether  it  was  represented  or  not  on  the  most 
ancient  monuments  of  central  India.  Now  it  seems  indeed 
that  the  old  native  school  had  already  essayed  in  regard  to 
it  one  of  those  conventional  and  summary   pictures  of 
which  it  possessed  the  secret.  The  pillar  of  the  southern 
entrance  in  the  railing  of  the  stupa  of  Barhut  has  three 
of  its  faces  decorated.  Of  the  three  upper  bas-reliefs  ('),the 
first  represents,  we  beUeve,  by  the  symbol  of  the  Bodhi- 
tree,  the  «  perfect  illumination  »  ;  the  second,  by  the  symbol 
of  the  stupa,  the  parinirvdm;  the  third,  by  the  symbol  of 
the  garlanded  wheel,  the  «  great  miracle  ».  This,  at  least,  is 
suggested  by  two  inscriptions  on  the   last  named,  from 
which  we  are  not  certain  that  all  the  admissible  inferences 
have  hitherto  been  drawn  (see  pi.  XXVIII,  2).  At  the  bottom 
a  king  issues  from  his  capital,  mounted  in  his  quadriga :  the 


(i)  Cunningham,  Stupa  of  Barhut,  pi.  XIII. 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  179 

epigraph,  by  informing  us  that  he  is  called  «  king  Prase- 
najit  of  Kogala  »,  gives  us  at  the  same  time  the  name  of  the 
town  and  localizes  the  scene  at  ^ravasti.  Now  this  king  and 
his  suite  are  going  in  the  direction  of  a  building  of  impos- 
ing appearance,  which  shelters  a  wheel  surmounted  by  a 
parasol,  and  bearing  a  heavy  garland  suspended  from  its 
nave.  For  all  students  of  ancient  Buddhist  art  the  allegory 
is  clear  :  but,  for  fear  the  spectator  should  conceive  the 
slightest  hesitation,  a  second  helpful  inscription  informs 
him  that  it  is  indeed  «  the  wheel  of  the  Law  of  the  Blessed 
One  »  which  is  represented.  The  symbol,  therefore,  if 
translated  into  the  style  of  the  later  schools,  is  the  exact 
equivalent  of  an  image  of  an  instructing,  and  consequently 
converting,  Buddha.  On  each  side,  standing  in  a  devout 
attitude  with  joined  hands,  is   a  personage  in  splendid 
lay  costume,  such  as  India  has  always  indifferently  con- 
ceived its  kings  or  its  gods  (').  Accordingly  it  is  impossible 
for  us  in  the  presence  of  this  group  not  to  think  of  Buddha 
attended  by  Indra  and  Brahma,  in  the  presence  of  this  edifice 
not  to  think  of  the  mandapa  constructed  for  the  purpose  of 
the  «  great  miracle  ».  Cunningham,  with  his  accustomed 
instinct,  has  already  connected  with  this  bas-relief  the 
passage  in  the  Divydvaddna  translated  by  Burnouf,  which 
does  precisely  on  this  occasion  make  the  king  of  Ko^ala 
betake  himself  «  in  his  good  chariot  »  to  the  presence  of 
the  Master :  but  he  did  not  follow  out  the  identification  to  the 
end  Q.  In  truth,  we  see  no  reason  for  stopping  half  way. 


(i)  For  some  quite  similar  images  of  gods  on  this  same  balustrade  of 
Barhut  see  also  Cunningham,  loc.  cit.,  pi.  XVII. 

(2)  Ibid.,  pp.  90-91.  —  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  visit  of  Ajita^atru  to 

Buddha,  which  on  the  pillar  of  the  western  entrance  forms  a  pendant  to  this 

one,  is  likewise  of  importance  from  a  legendary  point  of  view  (ibid, ,  pi.  XVI 

and  p.  89). 

14 


i8o  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

Evidently  it  was  not  a  question  of  an  ordinary  visit,  but  of 
a  meeting  having  a  solemn  character.  We  know  from  a  sure 
source,  namely  the  inscriptions,  the  exact  locality  of  the 
scene,  that  is  ^ravasti,  the  capital  of  Ko^ala,  and  the  names 
of  the  two  principal  actors,  Prasenajit  and  the  Blessed 
One  ;  the  bas-relief  shows  us  the  devout  ardour  of  the  one, 
and  suggests  the  converting  gesture  of  the  other ;  finally, 
the  accessory  details  of  the  two  attendants  standing  beside 
the  invisible  Buddha  and  the  great  hall  which  shelters  him 
harmonize  equally  well  with  the  traditions  relative  to  the 
«  great  miracle  » .  We  shall  not  escape  the  conclusion  that 
such  indeed  was  the  subject  which  the  sculptor  had  propos- 
ed to  himself.  The  counter-proof  is  easy  :  let  us  imagine 
that  precisely  this  task  had  been  set  him ;  granted  the  cus- 
tomary procedure  of  the  old  school,  we  do  not  see  how  he 
could  have  accomplished  it  otherwise  ('). 


Thus  we  should  end  by  restoring  to  this  subject  of  the 
mahd-prdtihdrya  the  sphere  which  legitimately  belongs  to  it 
and  which  until  now  had  been  too  parsimoniously  mea- 
sured out.  We  are  now  in  a  position  to  sketch  its  history 
from  the  earliest  to  the  last  surviving  monuments.  Treat- 
ed allegorically  —  and  with  good  reason  —  by  the  old 
native  school,  it  is  not  long  in  utiHzing  for  its  own  advan- 
tage the  type  of  Buddha  created  by  Indo-Greek  art.  From 


(i)  Agaia  an  interesting  replica  of  our  plate  XXVIII,  2  will  be  found  on 
plate  XXXI,  I,  of  Cunningham.  We  should  be  quite  willing  to  connect  with 
it  the  representations  of  wheels  on  pillars,  like  that  of  plate  XXXIV,  4  (cf. 
atSanchi,  Fergusson,  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  pi. XLll,  i).  Perhaps  it  would 
even  be  necessary  to  see  a  reference  to  the  mdha-prdtihdrya  in  the  wheel 
which,  according  to  the  evidence  of  Fa-hien  and  Hiuan-tsang,  surmounted 
one  of  the  two  columns  raised  at  the  entrance  to  the  Jetavana. 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  i8i 

the  outset  it  adopts  that  mudrd  of  instruction  (')  and  espe- 
cially that  particular  lakshana  of  the  lotus  with  a  stem,  both 
of  which  it  will  retain  as  characteristic  signs  from  end  to 
end  of  its  evolution.  Under  its  most  restricted  aspect,  as  at 
Barhut,  it  counts  only  two  attendant  divinities  :  but  on 
other  replicas  these  latter  multiply  themselves  and  mingle 
with  apparitions  of  Buddhas.  It  is  chiefly  these  latter 
that  are  retained  by  the  stelae  of  Benares,  and,  after  their 
example,  by  the  later  productions  from  the  basin  of  the 
Ganges,  whilst  western  India  to  the  very  end  reserves  the 
best  place  for  the  divine  acolytes.  At  the  same  time,  the 
composition,  which  had  finally  on  the  vast  walls  of  Ajanta 
attained  a  disproportionate  development,  returns,  with 
the  ultimate  decadence,  to  the  soberness  of  its  commence- 
ments. All  being  taken  into  account,  without  going 
outside  the  Indian  publications,  and  leaving  aside  the 
already  identified  miniatures  of  the  manuscripts,  we  pro- 
pose henceforward  to  inscribe  the  rubric  of  the  «  great  mi- 
racle of  ^ravasti  »  under  the  following  reproductions  : 

1.  Barhut,  pi.  XXVIII,  2  ;  Stupa  of  Bar  hut,  pi.  XXXI,  i, 
perhaps  XXXIV,  4,  etc.  (Ancient  Indian  style,  2°''  century 
B.  C); 

2.  Gandhara :  pll.  XXIV-XXVIII,  i  ;  /.  Ind.  Art.  and  Ind., 
no.  62, 1898,  pi.  8, 2—Anc.  Mon.  India,  pi.  92  (in  the  middle); 
Arch. Survey  Report,  1903-1904,  pi.  LXVIII,  h  andc;  Artg.-h. 
du  Gandhdra,  fig.  78 ;  (with  an  exceptional  mudrd)  J.  I.  A.  I., 
no.  69,  1900,  fig.  24=  Buddh.  Art  in  India,  fig.  112,  and  /. 
R.A.S.,Oct.  i9o8,pl.VI,3(Indo-Greekstyle,  i^' and 2"'* cen- 
turies A.  D.); 

3.  Benares :  pi.  XIX;  Anc.  Mon.  India,  pi.  68,  i  (in  the 


(i)  For  the  only  two  exceptions  known  to  us  cf.  p.  170,  n.  2,  and  172, 


n.  I. 


1 82  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

left  upper  compartment);  (on  the  lateral  borders) 67,  3,  and 
68,  2  (Gupta  Style;  4*''-6'''  centuries)  ; 

4.  Ajanta  :  pU.  XX-XXI,  i;  Paintings  of  Ajantd, 'pW.  15, 
24,  39 ;  Arch.  Survey.  West.  India,  IV,  pi.  XXXVII,  2  (Calu- 
kya  style,  6'^-f^  centuries); 

5.  Magadha  :  pi.  XXIII,  i ;  Et.  sur  I'Iconogr.  bouddh.  de 
rinde,  I,  fig.  28  (Pala  style,  8"'-io"^  centuries)  ; 

6.  Konkan  :  pi.  XXIII,  2;  Arch.  Surv.  West.  India,  IV, 
pi.  XLIII,  I,  and  fig.  22  =  Buddh.  Art  in  India,  fig.  60; 
Cave  Temples  of  India,pl  LVI  (Rashtrakuta  style,  S'^-io"*  cen- 
turies). 

Henceforward  the  picture  of  the  mahd-prdtihdrya  would 
not  be  missing  from  any  school  :  we  await  only  that 
of  Mathura.  This  is  just  what  might  be  expected  from 
the  importance  assumed  by  the  episode  in  the  legend, 
as  a  compulsory  prodigy  of  every  «  Blessed  One  » 
worthy  of  his  name.  It  would  have  been  too  aston- 
ishing, considering  the  constant  parallelism  between  the 
two  forms,  written  and  figured,  of  the  tradition,  if  no 
ancient  illustration  had  corresponded  on  this  point  to  the 
texts.  Our  hypothesis  fills  a  real  gap;  and  it  is  only  just 
that  «  the  great  miracle  of  ^ravasti  »  should  advanta- 
geously, as  far  as  the  number  of  known  repHcasis  concern- 
ed, bear  comparison  with  the  three  other  great  scenes  from 
the  teaching  career  of  Buddha. 

Why  then  —  and  this  is  the  last  point  on  which  we  are 
conscious  of  owing  the  reader  some  explanation  —  why  has 
it  been  so  tardily  and  so  laboriously  recognized,  whilst  its 
three  pendants  were  identified  long  ago  and  at  first  sight? 
To  this  question  we  may  reply,  first  of  all,  that  the  mahd-prd- 
tihdrya, especially  in  the  preaching  form  which  had  pre- 
vailed, does  not  lend  itself,  as  we  have  abundantly  experi- 
enced, to  anything  more  than  a  picture  almost  void  of  move- 
ment, if  not  of  picturesqueness ;  to  effect  its  instant  recogni- 


THE  GREAT  MIRACLE  183 

tion ,  it  has  neither  the  exceptional  role  of  the  monkey  or  the 
elephant,  nor  the  characteristic  decoration  of  the  triple 
ladder  ;  and  here  we  have,  doubtless,  an  excellent  reasdn. 
There  is  room,  in  our  opinion,  for  adding  another.  We  are 
so  accustomed  to  utiHze  the  archaeological  information  of 
the  Chinese  pilgrims  in  India,  that  we  no  longer  think  of 
being  grateful  to  them  for  it;  in  order  to  measure  the  value 
of  their  help,  we  have  to  be  once  without  it.  That  is  the  case 
on  this  occasion  :  Fa-hien  and  Hiuan-tsang,  so  explicit  as 
regards  the  three  other  episodes,  scarcely  mention  the  one 
which  interests  us  here.  The  places  where  ^ravasti  and  the 
Jetavana  had  been,  the  favourite  sojourn  of  the  Master,  evok- 
ed too  many  remembrances  pell-mell  for  the  «  Great 
Miracle  »  not  to  be  swamped  in  the  crowd  of  those  which 
on  all  sides,  through  the  mouths  of  the  guides,  solicited 
their  devout  interest.  We  must  likewise  reckon  with  the  fact 
that  the  story  of  the  rivalry  between  the  Master  and  the 
Tirthyas  was  on  the  spot  inevitably  entangled  with  the 
calumny  of  the  novice  Cinca,  or  with  the  assassination  of  the 
courtesan  Sundari :  and  these  dramatic  stories  could  not  fail 
to  encroach  upon  the  miracle  of  Buddha,  which  was  after 
all  so  neutral  and  quasi-passive.  Thus,  when  the  pilgrims 
finally  arrive  at  the  temple  which  marked  the  locahty  of  the 
purely  doctrinal  and  magical  conflict,  they  both  specify 
indeed  that  a  statue  of  the  Blessed  One  was  seated  (')  there  ; 


(i)  We  believe,  in  fact,  after  careful  reading,  that  the  tnahd-caitya  of 
Qravasti,  marking  the  locality  of  Buddha's  victory  over  the  other  chiefs  of 
sects,  was  the  temple  (vihdra),  60  or  70  feet  high,  which  Fa-hien  and 
Hiuan-tsang  both  saw  and  mentioned  at  the  west  (that  is  to  say,  at  the 
right)  of  the  road  leading  to  the  south  of  the  town  towards  the  Jetavana, 
about  60  or  70  (Chinese,  therefore  double)  paces  in  front  of  the  eastern 
gate  of  the  park,  opening  from  the  same  side  upon  the  same  road  (trans. 
Beal,  I,  p.  XLVii,  and  II,  p.  10 ;  Watters,  I,  p.  393).  It  will  be  noticed  that 
this  situation  corresponds  fairly  well  with  the  indications  of  the  texts  (cf. 


1 84  THE  GREAT  MIRACLE 

but  they  both  forget  to  tell  us  on  what  kind  of  seat  and 
accompanied  by  what  attendants.  Accordingly,  do  not  ask 
why  the  connection  between  the  narratives  and  the  repre- 
sentations of  the  «  Great  Miracle  »  has  been  so  tardily  real- 
ized. Cease  hkewise  to  be  astonished  that  we  are  still  even 
at  the  present  time  posed  by  the  question  whether  the  two 
divine  acolytes  retained  to  the  very  last  (as  we  are  certain 
they  did  in  the  representation  of  the  «  Descent  from  Hea- 
ven »)  their  names  of  Brahma  and  Qakra,  or  whether 
they  ended  by  transforming  themselves,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
faithful,  into  Bodhisattvas,  and,  in  that  case,  at  what  mo- 
ment the  transformation  took  place.  Fa-hien  and  Hiuan- 
tsang  tell  us  nothing  concerning  this.  Onefeels  howvaluable 
their  testimony  would  have  been  to  us,  by  reason  of  its 
mean  date  as  also  of  the  central  situation  of  the  country 
from  which  they  would  have  borrowed  its  elements,  form- 
ing a  bridge  between  the  ancient  works  of  the  north- 
west and  the  later,  but  identified,  productions  of  eastern 
India.  If  we  have  been  able  ultimately  to  dispense  with 
it,  this  is  because  the  stele  recently  discovered  atSarnathand 
immediately  published  by  Mr.  Marshall  put  into  our  hands 
precisely  the  missing  middle  of  the  conducting  wire,  and 
thenceforward  all  that  we  have  had  to  do  has  been  to  follow 
its  direction,  downwards  to  the  disappearance,  upwards  to 
the  sources  of  Buddhist  art.  For  this  let  us  thank  the 
Archaeological  Survey ! 


above,  p.  149,  n.  2)  :  it  seems  that  it  is  expedient  to  set  aside  in  its  favour 
the  «  preaching  hall  »  built  by  Prasenajit,  which  was  to  be  found  in  the 
centre  of  the  town,  and  the  stupa  next  to  that  of  Qariputra,  which  is  men- 
tioned by  Hiuan-tsang  only.  As  regards  the  latter,  Walters  states  that  he  did 
not  know  where  to  place  the  «  tope  »  of  the  «  great  miracle  »  ;  he  forgets 
that  the  eight  great  caityas  are  not  necessarily  all  stupas;  we  know,  for 
example,  that  that  of  the  Sambodhi  at  Bodh-Gaya  is  a  temple,  and  the  same 
is  explicity  told  us  by  Fa-hien  and  Hiuan-tsang  concerning  the  Devdvatdra. 


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THE   GREAT    MIRACLE    OF   CRAVASTI 


PL.  XIX 


oi 


AT    BENARES 


PLATE  ^  XX 


Cf.  pp.   loO-I. 


Pl:ue  XX  was  made  from  a  photograph  taken  as  well  as  we  could 
manage  at  Ajand,  in  September  1897,  in  the  gloom  of  Cave  VII.  It 
represents  a  portion  of  the  left  wall  of  the  vestibule  of  the  sanctuary. 
We  may  compare  with  it  a  drawing  published  by  Fergusson  and  Bur- 
gess, Cave  Temples  of  India ,  pi.  XXXI. 

We  limit  ourselves  to  borrowing  a  description  from  Dr.  Burgess, 
Notes  on  the  Bauddha  Rock  Temples  of  Ajanid  (Bombay,  1879),  p.  45  : 
«  The  sides  of  the  antechamber  are  entirely  covered  with  small  Buddhas, 
sculptured  in  rows  of  five  to  seven  each,  sitting  or  standing  on  lotuses, 
with  lotus  leaves  between  them.  The  stalk  of  the  lowest  central  lotus 
is  upheld  by  two  kneeling  figures  wi'h  royal  head-dresses  canopied  by 
the  many-headed  ndga  behind  each;  on  the  left  are  a  kneeling  figure 
and  two  standing  Buddhas,  and  on  the  right  a  Buddha  is  behind  the 
ndga,  and  behind  him  are  three  worshippers  with  presents...  » 

The  diversity  and  alternation  oft  he  mudrds  will  be  noticed;  true,  it 
is  on  this  wall  that  the  attitudes  are  the  most  varied,  which  is  not 
saying  much.  For  the  identification  of  the  two  Ndga-rdjas  with  Nanda 
and  Upananda  cf.  above,  p.  161. 


THE    GREAT    MIRACLE   OF   CRAVASTf 


PL,  XX 


AT    AJANTA 


PLATE  XXI 
Cf.  pp.  164-5,  166-7. 


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THE   GREAT    MIRACLE    OF   CRAVASTI 


PL.  XXI 


I      iVA-^-^M  ^^v'--^i-1^A.  V.-m.A>"i;^^4| 


<  3 


K   u. 


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2 


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<:  J 


PLATE  XXII 
Cf.  pp.  165-6,  255. 


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THE   GREAT   MIRACLE   OF   QRAVASTI 


PL.  XXII 


< 
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PLATE  XXIU 
Cf.  pp.  167-8. 


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U    -3      V 


THE    GREAT    MIRACLE   OF   QRAVASTI 


PL.  XXIII 


2.   —    IN    THE    KONKAN 


1.   —  IN    MAGADHA 


PLATE  XXIV 

Cf  pp.  170. r.  173.4,  177. 


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THE   GREAT    MIRACLE    OF    QRAVASTI 


PL.  XXIV 


< 

■<; 

X 

a 

< 
a 


PLATE  XXV 

Cf.  pp.  171,  173-4,  177- 


I  —  The  stele  of  plate  XXV,  i ,  which  comes  from  Loriyan-Tangai 
and  is  preserved  in  the  Calcutta  museum,  measures  in  height  one 
metre;  it  has  been  reproduced  already  by  Dr.  Burgess  [J.  Ind.  Art 
andlnd.,  no.  69,  1900,  fig.  25  =:  Buddh.  ^Art  in  India,  fig.  152)  and 
in  tArtg.-b.  du  Gandhdm,  fig.  76. 

Here  we  restrict  ourselves  to  noting  the  general  disposition  of  the 
stele  in  the  form  of  a  vihdra  (cf.  ibid.,  pp.  129  and  138),  the  fitting 
of  the  tenon  into  the  mortise  at  the  base  {ibid.,  p.  191),  the  little 
columns  in  the  PersepoUtan  or  Corinthian  style  {ibid., pp.  227  and  234), 
the  dog-tooth  ornaments,  the  balconies  with  figures  of  women  in 
the  different  compartments  (fiza!.,  pp.  223 -224^  the  Cupid  garland- 
bearers  of  the  lower  framework  {ibid.,  pp.  239-240),  the  lion-headed 
brackets  similar  to  those  of  plate  XXV,  2,  etc. 

A  teaching  Buddha,  seated  on  a  raised  lotus,  is  outlined  against  an 
oblong  aureole  and  a  round  nimbus  :  above  his  head,  a  twisted  gar- 
land hangs  under  a  double  streamer;  under  his  right  foot,  which  is 
sole  upwards,  a  knot  of  stuff  forms  a  round  protuberance,  which  is  also 
to  be  seen  on  plate  XXV,  2,  but  which  on  the  following  plates  is  only 
a  pufi'ed  out  plait.  The  two  Buddhas  in  the  top  corners,  seated  in  medi- 
tation on  inverted  lotuses  and  under  little  vihdras,  seem  to  form  an 
integral  part  of  the  composition;  perhaps  the  case  is  the  same  with  the 
three  others  lodged  under  the  two-storied  arch  of  the  gable ;  in  any 
case,  the  group  at  the  top  recalls  by  its  arrangement  the  other  great 
aerial  miracle,  that  of  the  Descent  from  Heaven. 

This  time  the  two  divine  attendants  are  seated  on  rattan  seats.  The 
one  on  the  (Buddha's)  right  has,  unfortunately,  his  face  and  left  hand 
broken ;  his  feet  are  crossed  in  an  attitude  often  reproduced  later  in 
China  and  Japan.  The  turbaned  attendant  on  the  left,  leaving  his  sandal 
on  the  ground  (cf.  ^rch.  Surv.  Rep.,  1903-1904,  pi.  LXVIII,  b  and  c), 
has  bent  up  his  right  leg  and  must,  as  on  plate  XXV,  2,  have  rested  his 
forehead  on  his  hand,  while  at  the  same  time  he  holds  in  his  left  the 
same  looped  object  as  does  the  right-hand  attendant  on  plate  XXIV,  2, 
—  from  the  analogy  of  some  newly  discovered  statues  we  should 
guess  a  bending  purse. 


In  the  bottom  corners  two  kneeling  worshippers,  a  monk  and  a  lay 
female  devotee  —  strangers,  it  seems,  to  the  scene  and  only  inserted 
for  a  purely  decorative  purpose  —  are,  perhaps,  the  donors,  perhaps 
two  of  the  usual  attendants.  (Cf.  above,  pp.  173,  note  i,  and  173-4). 

II.  —  The  original  of  plate  XXV,  2,  measuring  in  height  m.  0,45, 
comes  likewise  from  Loriyan-Tangai  and  is  preserved  in  the  Calcutta 
museum.  It  has  already  been  published  by  Dr.  Burgess  ij.  Ind.  ^rt 
and  Ind.,  no.  69,  1900,  fig.  22  =  Buddh.  ^rt  in  India,  fig.  147). 

Here  the  lotus  which  serves  as  a  seat  for  the  teaching  Buddha  is 
supported  by  the  two  Ndga-rdjas,  Nandaand  Upananda,  who  are  visible 
only  as  far  as  the  waist.  The  one  on  the  right  (in  relation  to  Buddha) 
is  of  a  curious  type  of  Brahmanic  ascetic,  with  his  beard  and  volumi- 
nous chignon;  he  holds  in  his  right  hand  an  object  which  reminds 
us  very  much  of  the  dolphin  similarly  carried  by  certain  of  his  congen- 
ers (cf.  ^rl  g.-b.  du  Gandhdra,  fig.  126),  but  which,  in  fact,  seems  to 
be  nothing  but  the  head  of  a  serpent  coming  out  of  his  neck.  As  for 
the  one  on  the  left,  no  less  strange  with  his  moustache  and  his  striped 
hair,  we  cannot  say  whether  he  holds  in  his  left  hand  a  bent  paddle  or 
a  hooded  serpent  (cf.  .Arch.  Surv.  Rep  ,  1^0^-1904,  pi.  LXVIII,  b).  On 
either  side  of  the  Nigas  kneel  a  monk  and  a  nun,  perhaps  Maudgal 
yayana  and  Utpalavarna  (cf.  above,  p.  174). 

The  two  divine  attendants  are  again  seated  on  rattan  seats  ;  both 
rest  their  elbows  symmetrically  on  their  raised  knees,  while  their 
fortheads,  marked  with  the  Arnd,  recline  upon  the  tip  of  one  finger :  we 
know  that  this  pensive  pose  has  been  ascribed  by  Sino-Japanese  art  to 
Avalokite^vara.  The  attendant  on  the  right,  who,  like  Brahnii,  has  no 
head-dress  other  than  his  hair,  holds  in  his  right  hand  the  book  (in  the 
form  of  a  palm-leaf  manuscript)  which  will  be  one  of  the  attributes  ot 
Manju^ri ;  the  turbaned  one  on  the  left  holds  in  his  left  hand  an  object 
which,  from  its  granular  appearance  and  the  fold  which  it  makes  at 
the  bottom,  we  believe  to  be  again  a  purse,  fastened  by  a  kind  of  clasp 
in  the  form  of  a  medallion  and  analogous  to  those  in  the  hands  of  the 
attendants  on  the  left  of  pi.  XXIV,  2  and  right  of  pi.  XXV,  i  ,  but 
which  on  plate  LXVIII,  c,  of  the  KArch.  Surv.  Rep.,  i^0}-i<)0  4  '^ 
plainly  a  lotus. 

To  conclude,  let  us  note  the  curious  porch  which  shelters  the 
three  persons,  and  which,  trapezoidal  in  the  centre  and  arched  at  the 
sides,  rests  on  brackets  decorsited  whh  lions'  heads.  As  usual,  birds  are 
represented  on  the  roofs.  (Cf.  above,  p.  171.) 


THE    GREAT    MIRACLE    OF    CRAVASTI 


PL,  XXV 


IN    GANDHARA 


_;M-         fK'-'B'y'zg;         n    in- 


3^         ;l-  H-t    ;^    •-•  «^  -1 


-  3,    a.      '^^    w  5-  r-  55-3  ,         r  - 

^  i'  8     ^  i  I ..  i:  §■  s       -     X 


EJ  05    a.       ^    W  ^  «.  s:  g  -r  ><j 


CfJ„        §=>:         Oo-g 
, .  >s  M  w,  •      ►-•  a-  p    o 

;5.        fu       ^^   •     m  g-^   a    I 


THE   GREAT   MIRACLE  OF  QRAVASTI 


PL.  XXVI 


PLATE  XXVII 

Cf.  pp.   171-4. 


The  original  of  this  plate,  the  exact  origin  of  which  is  unknown,  is 
preserved  in  the  museum  at  Lahore  (no.  572),  where  we  photographed 
it;  it  measures  m.  0,85  in  height.  As  yet  it  has  been  published  only  by 
Dr.  Burgess  (/.  Ind.  ^rt  and  Ind  ,  no.  62,  1898,  pi.  8,  i). 

Only  the  middle  part  of  the  stele  is  devoted  to  the  Mahd-prdtihdrya. 
Under  the  large  lotus  two  persons,  whose  bodies  are  only  half  seen,  but 
who  are  not  otherwise  characterized,  and  who  are  leaning  back  to 
look  at  the  Mister,  must  be  the  two  traditional  Ndga-rdjas.  Above  the 
head  of  the  great  central  Buddha,  which  is  of  disproportionate  size, 
two  little  genii,  flying  without  wings,  hold  up  a  crown  of  jewellery 
under  ornamental  foliage.  On  each  side  appear  two  other  small  figures 
of  Buddha,  analogous  to  those  on  plate  XXV,  i,  and  placed  respec- 
tively beneath  a  Bodhisattva  in  the  costume  of  a  Buddha  (cf.  pi.  XXVI, 
2)  surrounded  by  a  radiating  halo,  and  beneath  a  group  consisting  of 
Buddha  in  conversation  with  a  monk.  The  two  usual  attendants,  stand- 
ing   on    lotuses    with  bent    stems,    hold    up    their    garlands    (cf. 
pll.  XXVI  and  XXVIII,   i).   Above  them,  on  the  right  of  Buddha, 
is  Vajrapani,  bearing  his  thunderbolt,  and  having  on  his  head  a  tiara 
often  worn  by  Indra  (cf.  ^rt  g.-b.  du  Gandh.,  fig.  246) ;  and  opposite 
to  him,  wearing  a  turreted  crown,  the  nagara-devatd  of  ^rivasti  (cf. 
above,  pp.  174  5).  About  ten  other  gods  are  seated  in  various  attitudes, 
all  resting  on  lotuses,  except  those  (who  also  have  haloes)  on  the  first 
row  at  the  bottom  (the  four  LokapA'as,  two  of  which  on  the  right 
are  damaged ;  cf.  pi.  XXVI,  2) 

In  the  top  panel  a  sort  of  apotheosis  of  the  Bodhisattva  corresponds 
to  the  transfiguration  of  the  Buddha  :  the  former,  accompanied  by 
ten  persons  with  hiloes,  is  seated,  with  feet  crossed  and  a  water-flask  in 
his  hand,  under  a  parasol,  on  a  low  rattan  seat  covered  with  a  cushion. 
From  numerous  analogies,  and  notably  that  of  a  bas-relief  in  the 
Louvre,  where  this  scene  immediately  follows  that  of  the  Nativity 
{y4rtg.-b.  du  Gandh  ,  fig.  164),  we  seem  to  recognize  the  samcodana 
of  the  BjdhisattvaSiddhartha(Ln///fl  vistara,  chap.  XIII),  a  pendant  to 
\ht  adhyeshana  of  Buddha  [ibid.,  chap.  XXV).  The  point  to  be  noted 
here  is  the  close  connection  between  the  types  and  attitudes  of  the 
gods  in  thi  upper  and  low.r  scenes.  On  each  side  of  the  Bodhisattva  are 
thj  same  garland-bearers  on  lotuses;  at  the  twj  bottom  corners  are 
the  attendants  in  the  same  attitude  as  on  plate  XXV,  2;  the  first  atten- 
dant on  the  left  at  the  same  level  is  turning  round  to  express  to  his  neigh- 
bour his  admiration,  as  on  plate  XXVI,  2,  etc. 

At  the  bottom  is  depicted  the  adoration  of  the  pdtra,  or  alms-vase  of 
Buddha,  placed  on  a  throne  (cf.  Art  g.-b.  du  Gandh.,  p.  .^19)  and 
surrounded  probably  by  donors. 


THE    GREAT    MIRACLE    OF    QRAVASTI 


PL.  XXVII 


IN    GANDHARA 


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(—1 

THE   GREAT   MIRACLE   OF   CRAVASTI 


PL.  XXVIII 


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The  Six-Tusked  Elephant  : 

An  attempt  at  a  chronological  classification  of  the 
various  versions  of  the  Shaddanta-Jdtaka  C). 


The  close  relation  which  exists  between  the  written  and 
the  figured  forms  of  the  Buddhist  tradition  has  no  longer 
to  be  proved.  It  is  known  by  experience.  Rare  indeed  are 
those  narratives  of  Buddha's  miracles  whereof  no  illustra- 
tion has  yet  been  discovered ;  still  more  rare  are  the  images 
which  do  not  at  once  find  their  commentary  in  the  texts 
already  published.  And  thus  we  have  naturally  come  to  speak 
of  the  help  which,  on  numerous  details  of  exegesis,  the 
texts  and  monuments  reciprocally  lend  Q).  All  the  same, 
it  is  to  be  observed  that  until  now  we  have  principally 
made  use  of  the  first  to  explain  the  second.  In  fact  the 
two  sorts  of  documents  seem  to  be  unequally  matched  : 
and  the  muteness  of  the  stones  will  never,  in  the  estima- 
tion of  philologists,  be  able  to  equal  (as  regards  the  extent 
and  variety  of  the  information  which  can  be  derived  from 
them)  the  verbosity  of  the  writings.  However,  there  is  one 
point  in  which  the  sculptures  have  an  advantage  over  the 
manuscripts,  namely  the  permanent  fixity  of  their  testi- 
mony. Such  as  they  were  when  they  left  the  hands  of  the 


(i)  Extract  from  Melanges  Sylvain  Levi,  Paris,  191 1. 

(2)  Cf.  Une  lisle  indienne  des  Actes  du  Buddha  in  the  Annuaire  de  V£cole  prd' 
tique  des  Hautes  Etudes,  Section  des  Sciences  religieuses,  1908,  a  paper  of  too 
technical  a  character  to  be  translated  here. 

15 


i86  THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT 

workman,  such  are  they  still  to-day  ;  or  at  least,  if  they  are 
likewise  subject  to    mutilations  and  susceptible,   strictly 
speaking,  of  being  counterfeited,  no  attempt  at  rifacimento 
or  interpolation,  that  scourge  of  Indian  hteratures,  could 
in  their  case  pass   unperceived.  Guaranteed  against  the 
insidious  address  of  the  diasceuasts,  they  are  equally  so 
against  the  individual  fancy  of  their  own  authors,  who 
are  forcibly  restrained  by  the  material  conditions  of  their 
technique.  It  results  from  this  that  they  can  be  arranged 
with  perfect  assurance  in  chronological  order  and  dated 
with  a  sufficient  approximation.  It  is  in  this  sense   that 
we  are  able  to  say  with  Fergusson,  that  «  in  such  a  coun- 
try as  India,  the  chisels  of  her  sculptors  are  ...immeasu- 
rably more  to  be  trusted  than  the  pens  of  her  authors(*)  ». 
It  is  in  virtue  of  this  advantage  that  the  figured  versions 
seem  to  us  able  in  their  turn  to  render  some  service  to 
the  written  accounts  of  the  same  legend.  In  short,  after 
having  so  often  apphed  the  texts  to  the  interpretation  of  the 
monuments,  we  should  like  on  this  occasion  to  essay  the 
application  of  the  monuments  to  the  chronology  of  the 
texts. 


I 

For  this  purpose  we  will  direct  our  attention  to  a  cele- 
brated legend,  which,  however,  it  may  not  be  useless  brief- 
ly to  recall  to  the  reader,  that  of  the  «  elephant  with  six  tusks  » 
(Skt.  Shaddanta,  Pali  Chaddanta,  Chinese  Lieu  ya  siang). 
Of  course,  this  marvellous  animal  was  none  other  than  one 
of  the  innumerable  past  incarnations  of  our  Buddha;  and 


(i)  Fergusson,  History  of  Indian  and  Eastern  Architecture,  Preface  to  the 
first  edition,  1876,  p.  viii  {z^  edit.,  1910,  p.  x). 


THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT  187 

he  lived,  happy  and  wise,  in  the  company  of  his  two  wives 
and  of  his  troop  of  subjects  in  a  hidden  valley  of  the 
Himalayas.  However,  the  second  wife,  wrongly  beHeving 
herself  slighted  for  love  of  the  first,  gives  herself  up  to 
death  in  an  access  of  jealous  fury,  making  a  vow  one  day 
to  avenge  herself  upon  her  husband  for  his  supposed  want 
of  affection.  In  the  course  of  her  succeeding  existence  she 
becomes,  thanks  to  some  remnant  of  merit,  queen  of 
Benares,  and  possesses  the  gift  of  remembering  her  pre- 
vious birth.  She  astutely  obtains  from  the  king  permission 
to  despatch  against  her  former  husband  the  most  skilful 
hunter  in  the  country,  with  orders  to  kill  him  and  bring 
back  his  tusks  as  a  proof  of  the  success  of  his  mission.  The 
man  does,  in  fact,  succeed  at  great  risk  of  his  life  in  strik- 
ing the  noble  elephant  with  a  deadly  arrow.  But  the  soul 
of  the  Bodhisattva  is  inaccessible  to  any  evil  passion  :  not 
content  with  sparing  his  murderer,  he  voluntarily  makes  a 
present  of  the  tusks  whereof  the  man  had  come  to  rob  him. 
When  the  hunter  finally  brings  back  to  the  queen  this  mourn- 
ful trophy,  she  feels  her  heart  break  at  the  sight  of  it. 

Such  is  this  touching  story,  reduced  to  its  essential  and 
most  generally  reported  features  :  for  it  is  known  under 
multiple  forms.  We  know,  in  particular,  that  it  appears  in 
the  Pali  collection  of  the  Jdtaka  (n°  514).  Since  1895 
M.  L.  Peer  has  compared  with  this  text,  point  for  point, 
the  Sanskrit  account  in  the  Kalpadrumdvaddna  and  two  Chi- 
nese editions,  taken,  the  one  from  the  Lieu  tu  tsi  king 
(Nanjio,  n°  143)  and  the  other  from  the  Tsapao  tsang  king 
(Nanjio,  n°  1329);  but,  with  perhaps  excessive  prudence, 
he  was  careful  not  to  draw  any  conclusions  from  this 
detailed  comparison  (')•  More  recently  the  translation  of 


(i)  Journal  Asiatique,  Jan.-Feb.  1895.  For  the  version  of  the  Kalpadrumd- 


1 88  THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT 

the  Sutrdlahkdra  of  Acvaghosha,  so  excellently  rendered  by 
M.  Ed,  Huber  from  the  Chinese  of  Kumarajiva,  has  made 
accessible  to  us  a  new  and  most  important  version  ('). 
Finally,  a  publication  by  M.  Ed.  Chavannes  has  placed  at  the 
disposal  of  Indianists  generally  both  a  complete  transla- 
tion of  the  two  texts  quoted  by  M.  L.  Peer,  and  also  a 
translation  of  the  corresponding  passage  of  the  Ta  che  tu 
hen  (Nanjio,  n°  ii 69),  ascribed  to  Nagarjuna  Q.  So 
much  for  the  literary  sources  of  our  study  (').  If  we  now 
turn  to  the  works  of  art,  we  observe  that  we  have  been  no 
less  fortunate  in  having  preserved  to  us  at  the  same  time  a 
medaUion  from  Barhut  (*),  another  from  Amaravati  Q,  a 
lintel  from  Sanchi  C),  a  fragment  of  a  frieze  from 
GandharaQ,  and  finally  two  frescoes  from  Ajanta,  the  one 


vaddna,  cf.  the  Sanskrit  Ms.  27,  fol.  232  v°-240  v°  of  the  Biblioth^que 
Nationale and  Raj.  Mitra,  The  Sanskrit  Buddhist  Literature  of  Nepal,  pp.  301- 
303.  —  We  refuse  to  take  into  account  the  commentary  of  vv.  26-27  of  the 
Dhammapada,  which,  as  Mr.  Peer  also  remarks,  has  scarcely  any  feature  in 
common  with  the  Shaddanta  legend, 
(i)  Ed.  HuBEa,  Sutrdlahkdra,  Paris,  1908,  ch.  XIV,  n°  69,  pp.  403  sqq. 

(2)  Ed.  Chavannks,  Cinq  cents  contes  et  apologues  extraits  du  Tripitaka  chi- 
nois,  three  volumes  (1911).  The  story  n°  28  (I,  p.  loi)  represents  the  pas- 
sage in  question  from  the  Lieu  tu  tsi  king;  the  two  other  extracts  will  appear 
in  vol.  IV.  Strictly  one  might  connect  with  it  the  story  n°  344,  which  also 
presents  the  characteristic  trait  of  the  gift  of  the  tusks,  but  in  quite  differ- 
ent surroundings.  We  are  happy  to  take  this  opportunity  of  thanking 
M.  Chavannes,  whose  great  kindness  permitted  us  to  make  use  of  the  relevant 
pages  of  his  work  prior  to  publication. 

(3)  As  to  no  49  (not  yet  published  in  the  Bibl.  Indicd)  of  the  Bodhisattvd- 
vaddnakalpalatd,  we  cite  it  merely  for  record  :  for  this  narrative  is  missing 
from  the  only  ms.  (Sanscrit  8)  of  the  Biblioth^que  Nationale  (see  below, 
p.  204,  n.  i). 

(4)  A.  Cunningham,  Stupa  of  Barhut,  1879,  pl-  XXVI,  6. 

(5)  J.  Burgess,  Buddhist  Stupas  of  Amaravati  and  Jaggayyapeta,  1887, 
pi.  XIX,  I . 

(6)  Rear  face  of  the  middle  lintel  of  the  southern  gate;  cf.  J.  Fergusson, 
Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  2^  ed.,  1873,  pl-  VIII. 

(7)  Art  greco-bouddhique  du  Gandhdra.  fig.  138  (fragment  of  the  counter- 


THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT  189 

in  Cave  X,  and  the  other  in  Cave  XVII  (*).  The  identifi- 
cation of  these  bas-reliefs  and  of  these  paintings  is  fortu- 
nately no  longer  matter  for  reconsideration,  except, 
perhaps,  in  detailQ.  From  the  very  fact  that  the  meaning 
of  these  images  has  once  for  all  been  recognized,  they  have 
taken  their  place  side  by  side  with  the  texts  in  the  capacity 
of  independent  and  trustworthy  witnesses  to  the  divers 
forms  which  the  legend  has  successively  assumed.  Alto- 
gether we  find  ourselves  in  possession  of  no  less  than 
twelve  versions,  of  which  six  are  provided  by  art  and  six  by 
literature.  These  twelve  versions  are,  if  we  may  say  so,  so 
many  successive  «  stages  »  of  the  tradition  :  the  precise 
problem  is  to  classify  these  various  stages  in  their  chrono- 
logical order. 

We  must  admitthat,if  we  were  reduced  solely  to  the  his- 
torical data  relative  to  the  texts,  the  enterprise  would  be 
almost  desperate.  It  is  easy  to  contest  the  orthodox  belief, 
according  to  which  the  stanzas  of  the  Jdtaka  all  fell  from  the 
lips  of  Buddha  himself;  it  is  much  less  easy  to  replace  it  by 
more  satisfactory  assertions  concerning  the  exact  time  of 
the  composition  of  these  gdthds,  which  are  certainly  very 
ancient,  more  ancient  at  times  than  Buddhism.  Their  com- 
mentary (atthakathd),  according  to  the  confession  even  of 
the  monks  of  Ceylon,  has  existed  under  its  present  form 


march  of  a  staircase,  derived  from  the  hill  of  Karam^r;  Lahore  Museum, 
n°  1 1 56). 

(i)  Ajanti,  Cave  X  :  J,  Griffiths,  The  Paintings  in  the  Buddhist  Cave- 
temples  of  AjantA,  1896,  I,  pi.  41  and  fig.  21 ;  cf.  J.  Bdrgess,  Notes  on  the 
Buddha  Rock-temples  of  A jantS,,  1879,  pi.  VII,  2,  and  Arch.  Survey  of  Western 
India,  IV.  pi.  XVI.  —  Cave  XVII,  Griffiths,  ihid.  fig.  73  and  pi.  63. 

(2)  Cf.  for  example,  infra,  p.  194,  n.  i  and  p.  195.  The  majority  of  the 
published  descriptions  are  in  error  in  speaking  of  more  than  one  hunter  : 
it  is,  of  course,  question  of  the  same  individual,  represented  in  various  atti- 
tudes and  at  different  moments. 


190  THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT 

only  since  the  V"'  century  A.  D. ;  but  in  their  view  this 
could  only  be  the  translation  into  PaU  of  a  prose  which 
was  quasi-contemporaneous  with  the  verses  (').  Of  the 
Kalpadrumdvaddna  all  that  we  can  say  without  impru- 
dence is  that  this  versified  amplification  does  not  bear  the 
marks  of  high  antiquity.  As  to  the  dates  at  which  the  Chi- 
nese translations  were  made  and  which,  according  to  the 
information  kindly  communicated  by  M.  Chavannes,  extend 
from  the  end  of  the  IIP''  century  to  that  of  the  V*  of  our 
era,  they  naturally  can  furnish  us  only  with  a  terminus  ad 
quern.  Thus,  as  far  as  the  texts  are  concerned,  practically 
every  extrinsic  element  of  chronological  classification  is 
lacking.  Happily  we  are  a  little  better  served,  as  regards  the 
images.  Each  of  these  forms  part  of  a  whole  to  which 
either  votive  inscriptions  or  technical  considerations  permit 
us  to  assign  a  determinate  epoch.  It  is  established  that  the 
bas-reliefs  of  Barhut  and  of  Sanchi  go  back  to  the  II""*  or?' 
century  B.  C.  Q.  Those  of  Gandhara  and  of  Amaravati  are 
by  common  accord  attributed  to  the  T'  or  IP'*  of  our 
era  Q.  It  is  to  the  same  epoch  at  the  latest  that,  on  the 
strength  of  the  inscriptions  and  the  style,  Messrs.  Burgess 
and  Griffiths  ascribe  the  archaic  paintings  of  Cave  X  at 
Ajanta  :  on  the  other  hand,  the  same  authorities  bring  the 
decoration  of  Cave  XVII  down  to  the  beginning  of  the 
Vl*  century  (*).  Certainly  these  are  only  approximate 
dates  :  but  it  is  a  good  thing  to  have  even  so  much,  and  we 
must  consider  ourselves  fortunate,  if  we  succeed,  by  using 


(i)  Cf.  Rhys  Davids,  Buddhist  Birth-Stories,  1880,  Introduction,  pp.  i-ii, 

(2)  See  above,  pp.  4,  34,  67. 

(3)  Cf.  Art  greco-houddhique  du  Gandhara,  p.  42. 

(4)  For  the  «  Cave  X  »  see  Griffiths,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  5  and  32;  Borgess, 
A/o/«,  p.  50;  for  the  «  Cave  XVII  «  Griffiths,  ihid.,  p.  5 ;  Burgess,  ibid., 
p.  61  (cf.  p.  57). 


THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT  191 

these  figured  monuments  as  so  many  land-marks,  in  dating 
some  of  our  texts  with  a  similar  degree  of  approximation. 
Nay,  were  we  not  able  to  call  to  our  aid  these  hitherto 
unutilized  auxiliaries,  it  would  be  wiser  to  surrender  in 
advance  every  attempt  at  historical  classification. 


II 


Certainly  we  should  not  for  that  reason  remain  com- 
pletely disarmed  before  the  confused  mass  of  these  often 
divergent  versions;  and  it  would  be  our  part  to  introduce 
—  by  recourse,  for  want  of  anything  better,  to  some  inter- 
nal principle  of  coordination  — an  order  at  least  theoretical. 
It  is  indeed  the  favourite  occupation  of  folklorists  thus  to 
draw  up  genealogical  trees  of  what  they  have  decided  to 
call  «  families  of  tales  ».  But,  if  the  enterprise  is  possible, 
and  the  pastime  permissible,  it  goes  without  saying  that 
the  result  can  be  of  value  only  upon  a  double  condition, 
namely  that  we  shall  have  known  how  to  choose  the 
topical  detail  which  must  act  as  main-spring  for  the  estab- 
Ushment  of  the  series,  and  that  we  shall  have  well  observed 
and  followed  out,  in  the  arrangement  of  this  series,  the 
natural  course  of  human  affairs.  Now,  in  the  case  of  the 
Shaddanta-jdtaka  we  are  in  no  wise  puzzled  to  discover  at 
once  the  characteristic  trait  and  the  way  in  which  to  use  it. 
It  is  a  well  recognized  law  that  successive  versions  of  narra- 
tives of  this  kind  have  a  tendency  continually  to  outdo 
each  other  in  the  direction  of  increasing  edification.  The 
usual  effect  of  this  pious  inclination  is,  let  us  say  in  passing, 
to  destroy  by  degrees  the  whole  salt  of  the  story  together 
with  its  probability  and  its  ingenuousness,  while  substitu- 
ting for  it  compositions  whose  insipidity  is  sweetened  to 


152  THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT 

the  point  of  nausea.  Nevertheless  there  is  no  rehgious  liter- 
ature, and  the  Buddhist  less  than  any  other,  which,  its  ori- 
ginal raciness  once  evaporated,  escapes  this  deplorable  and 
fatal  invasion  of  convention  and  artificiality.  Now  what,  in 
the  theme  with  which  we  are  at  present  concerned,  is  the 
essential   point,  wherein  exactly   its  edification  Ues?  In 
order  that  we  may  not  be  accused  of  choosing  arbitrarily 
and  to  suit  the  necessities  of  the  case,  let  us  appeal  to  the 
Lalitavistara,  which  happens  to  sum  it  up  in  a  verse  (')  :  at 
the  time  of  his  previous  birth  as  the  elephant  Shaddanta  (it 
is  the  Gods  themselves  who  subsequently  remind  the  Bodhi- 
sattva,  in  order  to  encourage  him  to  follow  his  vocation) 
« thou  didst  sacrifice  thyteethof  dazzling  beauty,  but  moral- 
ity was  saved.  »  This   is  indeed  the  point  of  the  story, 
which  has  caused  it  to  be  ranged  under  the  category  of  the 
«  perfection  of  morality  » ,  or  better,  «  of  goodness  »  (^)  : 
it  is  the  surrender  by  the  elephant  of  his  beautiful  ivory 
tusks,   as  sanction    to   the  pardon  granted  to  the  hun- 
ter who  has  just   mortally  wounded  him.   But  there   is 
more  than  one  way  of  returning  good  for  evil,  and  it  can 
be  done  with  more  or  less  good  grace.  In  this  particular 
case  the  virtuous  elephant  might  have  Hmited  himself  to 
allowing  his  enemy  to  work  his  will ;  or,  better,  he  might 
have  facilitated  the  operation  for  him  ;  or  finally,  which 
quite  attains  to  the  subhme,  he  might  have  done  the  deed 
himself  for  the  advantage  of  his  murderer.  It  is  evidently 


(i)  Lalitavistara,  ch.  XIII,  40 ;  ed.  Lefmann,  p.  i68, 1.  9  :  Parityaji  te  rud- 
rafubhadantd  na  ca  tyaji  (ilam.  —  Naturally  it  is  this  same  point  that  is 
emphasized  in  the  rdsumd  of  Hiuan-tsang  to  which  reference  will  be  made 
below,  p.  199. 

(2)  Qila-paramita  :  this  is  the  classification  of  the  introduction  to  the 
]diaka  (ed.  Fausb0ll,  I,  p.  45 ;  trans.  Rhys  Davids,  p.  55)  and  of  the  Lieu 
tu  tsi  king  (Chavannes,  Cinq  cents  contes,  I,  pp.  97  sqq.). 


THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT  i93 

in   the  order  of  this  increasing  generosity  that,  in  theory, 
the  various  versions  will  have  to  be  classified. 

In  fact,  if  we  recur  to  the  written  accounts  which  have 
been  preserved  to  us,  we  remark  that  the  protagonist  adopts 
in  turns  one  or  other  of  these  attitudes  at  the  culminating 
moment  of  the  narrative  :  «  Rise,  hunter,  take  thy  knife 
(khura,  Skt.  kshurd),  and  cut  from  me  these  teeth  before 
I  die»,is  the  extent  of  what  the  elephant  says  in  stanza  31 
of  the  Jdtaka ;  and  his  interlocutor  does  not  let  him  repeat 
the  invitation.  The  Lieu  tu  tsi  king  considers  it  only  right 
to  add  a  little  moral  homily.  But  with  the  prose  commen- 
tary of  the  Jdtaka  things  become  more  comphcated.  The 
animal  has  attained  a  size  so  monstrous,  that  it  is  only 
with  great  difficulty  that  the  man  succeeds  in  raising  himself 
up  to  the  root  of  its  tusks,  and  even  there,  though  instead 
of  the  hatchet  of  a  savage  (the  use  of  which  would,  in  fact, 
have  been  disastrous  to  the  ivory)  he  now  uses  a 
more  perfect  instrument,  the  saw  (kakaca,  Skt.  krakaca^,  he 
vainly  exhausts  himself  with  cruel  efforts  :  his  victim  him- 
self must  come  to  his  aid.  In  order  to  make  things  more 
pathetic,  the  monastic  editor  does  not  recoil  before  the 
most  flagrant  contradictions.  The  elephant  is  already  so 
weak  that  he  cannot  raise  his  silver  trunk  to  take  hold  of 
the  saw  ;  and  he  has  to  call  all  his  senses  together,  in  order 
to  beg  the  hunter  to  give  him  the  handle  of  it;  after  which 
—  as  it  is  generally  agreed  that  the  Bodhisattva  is  by  his 
very  nature  endowed  with  supernatural  strength  —  he  in- 
stantly saws  through  his  two  tusks  (for  here  (')  they  are 
no  more  in  number  than  two),  like  the  tender  stems  of  a 


(i)  M.  L.  Peer  (loc.  cit.  p.  50  and  p.  77,  note  i)  has  observed  the  same 
thing  in  the  KalpadrumAvaddna,  in  spite  of  the  persistence  in  the  title  of  the 
traditional  name  of  «  six-toothed  » ;  but  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  word 


154  THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT 

plantain!  In  the  Kalpadrumdvaddna,  the  Ta  che  tu  lum 
(which  besides  is  simply  a  very  summary  resumd)  and 
the  Tsa  pao  tsang  king,  the  hero  does  not  even  trouble  him- 
self to  borrow  from  his  murderer  any  instrument  whatever: 
he  himself  breaks  off  his  tusks,  according  to  the  first  two 
accounts  against  a  rock,  according  to  the  third  against  a 
big  tree.  But  to  the  Sutrdlankdrahdongs  the  palm  for  spon- 
taneity in  the  action  of  the  martyr  :  it  is  simply  «  by  slip- 
ping his  trunk  round  his  teeth  »  that  this  time  the  elephant 
pulls  them  out,  not  without  pain  or  grief,  while  the  hunter 
respectfully  waits  for  him  to  present  them  expressly  to 
him.  Further  than  this  it  is  impossible  to  go. 

Thus,  then,  we  obtain  a  first  classification  of  all  our  texts. 
Theoretically  it  is  unassailable;  practically  we  must  not 
form  any  illusions  as  to  its  historical  value.  If  notwithstand- 
ing we  proceed  to  arrange  the  figured  monuments  accord- 
ing to  the  same  criterion,  the  chances  of  arriving  by  their 
intervention  at  a  less  conjectural  resuh  assume  immediately 
a  better  aspect.  In  fact  we  are  not  long  in  perceiving  that  the 
order  thus  obtained  coincides  exactly  with  that  already 
forced  upon  us  by  the  purely  archaeological  data.  At  the 
head  of  them  there  always  comes,  in  its  simplicity,  the  me- 
dallion of  Barhut :  on  the  left  the  hunter,  having  put  down 
his  bow  and  arrows,  sets  about  cutting  off  the  elephant's 
tusks  with  a  rude  saw  Q.  The  latter  has  kindly  crouched 


danta  occurs  in  the  text  very  frequently  in  the  plural  and  not  in  the  dual. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  unfortunately  impossible  to  know  what  was  said  on 
this  particular  point  by  texts  of  which  we  no  longer  possess  more  than  the 
Chinese  translation. 

(i)  See  above,  p.  39.  Perhaps  it  is  worth  while  to  remark  that,  in  the 
Barhut  version,  the  cause  of  the  drama  is  evidently  the  same  as  in  the  Lieu 
tu  tsi  kin^,  that  is,  the  gift  of  a  lotus  to  the  first  wife,  if  at  least,  as  is  said  in 
the  Kalpadrumdvaddna,  she  did  not  receive  two,  one  to  decorate  each  of 
her  temples.  This  reason  is  cited  by  the  prose  commentary  of  thejataka 


THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT  195 

down  to  further  the  wishes  of  his  enemy  and  to  render  his 
task  less  difficult  (pi.  XXIX,  i).  The  case  is  the  same  in  Gan- 
dhara  and  at  Amaravati,  where  in  addition  we  see  represen- 
ted the  episode  of  the  hunter  hiding  in  a  ditch,  in  order  to 
wound  the  elephant  in  the  stomach  with  an  arrow 
(pll.  XXIX,  2  and  XXX,  i).  The  fresco  of  Cave  X  of 
Ajanta  shows  us  likewise,  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Griffiths  (Joe. 
cit.,  p.  32),  «  the  huge  six-tusked  elephant  lying  down 
and  a  hunter  engaged  in  cutting  off  the  six  tusks  » .  It  is, 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  six  tusks  —  more  or  less  distinctly  sepa- 
rated, but  always  carefully  noted  — that  the  elephant  has  in 
all  these  representations,  except  that  from  Gandhara.  But, 
when  we  pass  on  to  the  painting  of  Cave  XVII,  the  picture 
is  changed  :  «  the  huge  white  Elephant  King  » ,  says  Mr.  Grif- 
fiths (ibid.,  p.  37),  is  standing,  «  with  only  one  tusk,  upon 
which  he  rests  his  trunk,  while  a  man  kneels  and  makes 
profound  obeissance  before  him  ».  In  reality  (cf  pi.  XXX, 
2),  the  elephant,  to  whom  the  artist  no  longer  lends  more 
than  his  two  normal  teeth,  has  already  torn  out  one,  and  is 
about,  as  it  is  written  in  the  Sutrdlankdra,  to  twist  his  trunk 
round  the  second,  in  order  to  pull  that  out  in  its  turn.  And 
during  this  time  the  hunter,  in  adoration  before  him, 
awaits  the  accomplishment  of  the  magnanimous  sacrifice. 
There  is,  as  we  see,  a  striking  parallelism  of  development 
between  our  two  kinds  of  documents  ;  and  it  is  continued 
from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  two  series. 
If  now  we  bring  the  two  lists  together,  we  obtain,  always 


only  as  a  subsidiary  one  :of  tiie  first,  a  very  ingenious  one,  that  he  advances, 
—  and  according  to  which  the  great  elephant  one  day,  unintentionally,  by 
shaking  a  fdla  tree  in  full  blossom,  caused  to  fall  on  his  second  wife, 
who  was  standing  to  windward,  only  twigs  of  wood,  dry  leaves,  and  red 
ants,  while  the  first,  who  was  to  the  leeward,  received  flowers,  pollen  and 
green  shoots —  there  is  no  more  question  at  Barhut  than  in  the  texts,  except 
this  particular  commentary. 


1 96  THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT 

by  virtue  of  the  same  principle  and  by  the  simple  intercala- 
tion of  the  various  versions  (')  in  the  position  respectively 
belonging  to  them,  the  following  combination  : 

I.  stanzas  of  the  Pali  Jataka  : 

The  hunter  cuts  off  the  teeth  with  a  knife. 

II.  Medallion  of  Barhut  (11°^  century  B.  C.)  : 

7he  hunter  cuts  off  the  elephant's  teeth  with  a  saw. 

III.  Medallion  of  AmarSvatl  \ 

IV.  Fresco  of  Ajanta,  CaveX  (  ist.ijnd  century  A.  D.  : 

V.  Counter-step  of  GandhSra  j 

The  same  version  as  at  Barhut. 

VI.  Lieu  tu  tsi  king  (trans,  by  Seng-houei,  d.  280): 

The  same  version  (the  instrument  is  not  specified). 


VII.  Prose  Commentary  of  the  Jataka  (rendered  intoPSli 
in  the  V"'  Century)  : 

The  elephant  himself  saws  off  his  teeth. 


VIII.  KalpadrumSvadana  : 

The  elephant  himself  Ireaks  off  his  teeth  against  a  rock. 

IX.  Ta  che  tu  luen  (trans,  by  KumSrajIva  bet'ween  402 

and  405)  : 

The  same  version  as  in  the  Kalpadrumavadana. 

X    Tsa  pao  tsang  king  (trans,  by  Ki-kia-ye  and  T'an  yao 

in  472)  : 

The  elephant  himself  hreah  off  his  teeth  against  a  tree. 

XI.  StltrdlankSra  (trans,  into   Chinese  by  KumSrajiva 

towards  410)  : 

The  elephant  himself  pulls  out  his  teeth  with  his  trunk. 

XII.  Fresco  of  Cave  XVII  of  Ajantd  (VIt»»  century)  : 

The  same  version  as  in  the  Sutralahkara. 


(i)  It  -will  be  noticed  that  the  final  list  differs  slightly  from  that  which 
we  drew  up  at  the  beginning  of  this  study.  On  the  one  hand,  we  have  had  to 
leave  aside  the  lintel  at  Sanchi,  which,  treated  too  decoratively,  did  not 
supply  us  with  any  information  upon  the  precise  point  which  we  are  now 
considering;  on  the  other  hand,  the  tenor  of  the  commentary  of  the  Jataka 
has  shown  itself  so  divergent  from  that  of  the  text  that  we  have  had  to 
divide  this  source  into  two.  On  the  whole,  then,  we  always  reckon  twelve 
versions,  five  artistic  and  seven  literary. 


THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT  197 

III 

Such  as  it  is,  the  chronological  table  thus  obtained  is  at 
least  worthy,  of  being  taken  into  consideration ;  and  the 
hope  occurs  to  us  that  we  may  have  restored,  in  accordance 
with  the  natural  play  of  the  religious  conscience,  the  differ- 
ent phases  of  the  evolution  of  the  story.  In  fact,  it  is  not 
that  we  have  thus  arbitrarily  arranged  all  the  accessible 
documents  :  it  is  they,  which,  when  interrogated  on  a  defi- 
nite, capital  point,  have  spontaneously  and  without  any 
violence  or  solicitation  on  our  part,  arranged  themselves 
in  the  order  indicated  above.  As  far  as  the  images  are 
concerned,  this  series  is  not  only  in  conformity  with  their 
historic  succession  on  the  whole  :  it  takes  into  account, 
in  a  surprising  manner,  their  proximity  as  well  as  their 
aloofness  in  time,  grouping  together  at  the  beginning  the 
four  which  resemble  each  other,  and  reserving  the  sole 
variant  to  quite  at  the  end.  Then,  as  regards  the  texts,  the 
impression  of  confidence  and  security,  which  arises  from 
this  spontaneous  classification,  would  be  still  further 
increased,  if  we  made  our  inquiry  apply  equally  to  such  or 
such  other  accessory  episodes  of  the  legend.  It  is  not,  in- 
deed, the  manner  of  giving  the  tusks  only,  it  is  a  whole 
group  of  concomitant  details,  which  concur  in  determining 
theoretically,  for  one  who  knows  how  to  read  them,  the 
order  of  priority  of  the  various  narratives.  Take  the  one 
which  comes  at  the  head  of  the  list,  that  is,  the  rhymed 
account  of  the  Jdtaka;  you  will  observe  that  there  every- 
thing takes  place  in  accordance  with  the  customary  rules 
of  elephant-hunting.  The  hunter  hides  in  a  ditch ;  at  the 
cry  of  the  wounded  animal  all  his  companions  flee ;  remain- 
ing alone  in  the  presence  of  the  man,  the  elephant  ad- 
vances to  kill  him  :  the  fact  that  it  stops  on  recognizing  on 


198  THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHA-NT 

him  the  colour  of  the  monastic  coat  is  the  sole  sign  of  the 
Buddhist  adaptation  of  the  ballad.  Beginning  with  the 
Lieu  tu  tsi  king  (n°  6),  it  is  no  longer  sufficient  that  the 
clothes  of  the  hunter  should  be  naturally  of  a  reddish- 
brown,  like  those  of  that  hunter  Q  from  whom  Buddha 
formerly  borrowed  his  first  monk's  coat  :  henceforward 
the  man  will  dehberately  disguise  himself  as  a  monk,  in 
order  to  inspire  confidence  in  his  prey.  But,  since  he  now 
employs  this  infallible  means  of  approaching  within  easy 
reach,  there  is  no  longer  need  for  him  to  hide  in  ambush  : 
and  in  fact,  beginning  with  the  Kalpadrumavaddna  (n°  8), 
he  ceases  to  have  recourse  to  this  obsolete  proceeding.  At 
the  same  time,  as  he  has  approached  openly,  it  will  be 
necessary  that  by  a  refinement  of  pity  his  victim  should 
defend  him  against  the  vengeance  of  his  first  wife,  if  not 
from  the  rest  of  the  herd  :  this  is  what  the  Bodhisattva 
fails  not  henceforth  to  do  (n°  9-1 1 ).  Soon  —  with  n°  10  — 
scruples  are  aroused  in  the  mind  of  the  hunter,  thus  pro- 
tected :  he  no  longer  dares  to  lay  his  sacrilegious  hand  on 
the  tusks  of  the  «  Great  Being  »,  for  fear  that  it  may  fall 
from  his  body.  Finally,  in  the  SMrdlankdra  (n°  1 1),  to  these 
interested  fears  is  added  a  real  and  too  legitimate  repen- 
tance. Thus  is  seen  how  a  striving  after  increased  edifi- 
cation has  by  degrees  modified  a  whole  concordant  assem- 
blage of  details  :  and  so  it  is  not,  as  might  be  imagined, 
for  an  isolated  reason,  but  by  a  whole  sheaf  of  proofs, 
if  we  had  time  to  consider  them  more  closely,  that  the 
order  of  the  preceding  table  would  be  justified. 

(i)  And  doubtless,  of  all  people  of  low  caste  :  for  the  costume  of  his  order 
of  mendicant  brothers  Buddha  would  quite  naturally  have  chosen  the  coar- 
sest material  of  the  cheapest  colour.  At  least  we  do  not  see  that  the  tradition 
relative  to  the  kdsh&ya,  if  it  had  any  meaning,  can  at  the  bottom  signify 
anything  else.  For  its  variations  in  form  cf.  also  Art  greco-bouddhique  du  Gan- 
dhara,  p.  369. 


THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT  199 

Does  this  mean  that  we  must  blandly  accept  for  the 
known  documents  all  its  features,  and  that,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  order  to  fix  the  date  of  every  new  version,  it  will 
be  sufficient  to  refer  it  to  the  corresponding  degree  on  this 
chronological  scale?  In  the  case  of  a  figured  monument  we 
should  be  rather  inclined  to  believe  so,  provided  that  it  is 
upon  inquiry  verified  whether  by  chance  it  were  not  a  case 
of  some  more  or  less  archaizing  imitation.  As  soon  as  it  is 
a  text  that  is  concerned,  the  question  becomes  much  more 
delicate,  and  from  the  very  beginning  we  fall  again  into 
our  difficulties.  For  the  most  part  the  table  furnishes  us 
with  nothing  more  than  simple  presumptions,  and  these 
need  still  to  be  correctly  interpreted.  It  affirms,  for  exam- 
ple, that  the  Sutrdlankdra  represents  the  state  of  the  legend 
current  from  the  V""  century  of  our  era  ;  and  of  this  fact 
we  have,  in  truth,  two  indisputable  proofs.  The  one,  of  an 
artistic  order,  is  the  fresco  of  Cave  XVII  of  Ajanta  (VI*"  cen- 
tury). The  other,  literary,  but  by  a  happy  chance  dated 
exactly  as  belonging  to  the  second  quarter  of  the  VIP  cen- 
tury, is  nothing  less  than  a  passage  from  Hiuan-tsang  : 
the  story  of  the  Shaddanta,  gathered  by  the  great  pilgrim  at 
Benares,  is,  as  M.  S.  L^vi  has  already  pointed  out  in  his 
admirable  article  on  the  Sutrdlankdra  et  ses  sources,  «  an 
exact  and  faithful  resume  of  the  story  of  Agvaghosha  »  O- 
What  are  we  to  deduce  from  these  statements  ?  As  the 
name  of  the  author  scarcely  allows  us  to  bring  the  work 
lower  down  than  the  IP''  century  of  our  era,  must  We  has- 


(i)  Cf.  M;  S.  Levi,  Afvaghosha,  le  SutralanUra  et  ses  Sources,  in  the  Journal 
Asiatique,  July-August  1908,  p.  175 ■  Stanislas  Jolien  (L  p-  360)  translates 
in  fact  :  «  The  elephant  tore  out  his  tusks  »,  and  Waiters  (II,  p.  53)  says 
exactly  the  same.  According  to  Beal  (II,  p.  49)  he  «  broke  off  his  tusks  ». 
M.  Chavannes  admits  that  this  second  translation  might  literally  be  pos- 
sible :  but,  not  to  mention  that  the  sense  of  «  breaking  »  is  given  in  the  die- 


200 


THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT 


ten  to  conclude,  as  we  might  be  tempted  to  do,  that  the 
account  of  the  «  white  elephant  with  six  tusks  »  is  only  a 
late  addition  ?  This  story  forms  a  part  of  the  XIV""  chapter. 
Now  M.  Ed.  Huber  warns  us  in  his  preface  «  that  one  of 
the  first  catalogues  of  the  Chinese  Tripitaka,  the  Li  tai  san 
pao  ki,  drawn  up  in  A.  D.  597,  gives  only  ten  chapters  » to 
the  Sutrdlahkdra.  Besides,  we  feel  to  what  a  degree  this  col- 
lection of  tales  (which,  like  that  of  the  Jdtakamdld,  must  at  a 
very  early  date  have  been  used  by  Buddhist  sermon-writers 
for  the  needs  of  their  daily  preachings)  was  ill-defended 
against  interpolations...  —  This  is  all  very  well  and  good ; 
and  after  all  the  thing  is  possible :  but  surely  the  place  assig- 
ned to  the  Sutrdlankdra  in  our  list   by  its  conception  of 
the  Shaddanta-jdtaka  does  not  authorise  us  to  conclude  from 
it  anything  of  the  kind.  What,  in  fact,  does  it  prove  ?  That 
this  text  already  contains  the  form  which  the  legend  had 
assumed  in  the  imagination  of  the  artist  painters  of  the 
VI"",  and  in  the  memory  of  the  guides  of  the  VII"',  century. 
And  in  what  way  does  it  prevent  the  poetic  talent  of  A^va- 
ghosliafrom  having  been  the  first  to  put  into  circulation  the 
elaborate  version  which,  as  we  have  just  seen,  was  coherent 
in  all  its  parts  and  destined  to  have  great  success  and  defi- 
nitely to  supplant  the  far  too  primitive  account  of  the  stan- 
zas ohhe  Jdtaka}  Two  or  three  centuries  may  not  have  been 
too  much  for  this  literary  production  to  become  popular  in 
its  turn  ;  and  here  we  find  positively  no  peremptory  reason 
invalidating  its  authenticity.  The  best  course,  with  a  view 
to  the  solution  of  this  question  —  as  of  the  question  how 
far  the  Chinese  translation  is  adequate  to  the  Sanskrit  origi- 


tionary  of  Couvreur  as  a  secondary  meaning,  it  is  that  of  «  tearing  out  » 
which  corresponds  to  the  description  of  the  attitude  in  the  Sutrdlankdra, 
and  its  representation  in  the  fresco  of  cave  XVII  of  Ajanta. 


PLATE  XXIX 
Cf.  pp.  39,  194-6. 


I.  —  From  Cunningham,  Stiipa  of  Bharhut,  pi.  XXVI,  2  ;  for  the 
description  cf.  above,  pp.  39  and  I94-5- 

II.  — From  a  photograph  taken  by  the  author  at  the  Madras  museum 
in  December  1896.  The  number  and  variety  of  the  episodes  collected 
together  on  this  single  medallion,   among  trees  and  rocks   used  as 
frames,  give  it,  in  contrast  to  the  simplicity  of  that  at  Baihut,  an  espe- 
cially entangled  and  confused  appearance.  —  i .  On  the  lower  part,  to  the 
right,  we  see  the  miraculous  elephant  with  six  tusks,  standing  between 
his  two  queens,  of  whom  the  first,  on  his  left,  holds  over  his  head  a 
parasol,  whilst  on  the  right  the  second  flourishes  a  fly-flapper.  —  2.  He 
moves  in  the  direction  of  the  lotus  pond,  which  occupies  the  bottom  of 
the  picture,  and  where  we  see  him  sporting  with  a  numerous  company  ; 
the  apparently  female  pachyderm  who  is  coming  precipitately  out  of 
the  pond  on  the  left  and  who  then  seems  to  crouch  in  order  to  throw 
herself  down  some  precipice,  would  perhaps   be  intended  to  awake 
the  remembrance  of  the  jealous  wife  and  her  suicide?  — 3.  Whatever 
may  be  the  fact  concerning  this  detail,  the  story  is  now  continued  on 
the  right,  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  medallion.  The  great  elephant  is 
depicted  standing  at  the  moment  when  he  crosses  the  fatal  ditch  in 
which  lurks  the  hunter,  whose  bust  only  is  to  be  seen  between  the 
animal's  legs.  —  4.  A  Uttle  more  to  the  left  the  elephant,  whose  fore. 
part  only  is  shown,  is  kneeling,  in  order  that  the  hunter  may  cut  off  his 
tusks  by  the  aid  of  a  saw  furnished  with  a  curved  spring,  much  more 
elaborate  than  the  tool  used  at  Barhut.  —5.  Finally,  right  at  the  top,  the 
latter  carries  away,  on  the  two  ends  of  a  pole  balanced  on  his   right 
shoulder,  the  spolia  ofnma  of  the  Bodhisattva.  It  is  curious  to  observe 
that  the  tusks  are  twelve  in  number,  six  (2X3)  at  each  end  of  the  pole ! 
Here  and  there  indications  of  antelopes  and  deer,  while  lending  anima- 
tion to  the  scene,  only  add  to  the  crowding. 


THE    SIX-TUSKED    ELEPHAN' 


PL.  XXIX 


AT    BARHUT 


■*^i 


•«i^-< 


m 


%- 


-J 


2.  AT    AMARAVATI 


PLATE  XXX 
Cf,  pp.  195-6. 


I.  — A  frieze  from  the  Lahore  museum  (no.  1156,  height  m.  o,i6)^ 
■which  formerly  decorated  one  of  the  counter-steps  of  a  staircase  on 
Karamar  Hill ;  from  a  photograph  taken  by  the  author  (cf.  ^rtg.-b.  du 
Gandh.,  I,  fig.  158).  The  elephant  has  only  one  pair  of  tusks.  —  i.  On 
the  left  he  is  wounded  in  the  stomach  by  the  arrow  of  the  hunter 
hidden  in  a  ditch.  —  2.  He  then  kneels  down,  to  allow  his  teeth  to  be 
sawn  off.  —  3.  Finally,  on  the  right,  the  hunter,  twice  represented, 
brings  back  on  his  shoulder  his  bundle  of  ivory,  and  then  offers  it  to  the 
royal  pair  of  Benares.  We  shall  note  the  striking  contrast  between  the 
distributive  order  of  the  episodes  according  to  the  ancient  Indian 
school  and  according  to  the  Indo-Greek  school  of  Gandh^ra,  there 
crowded  together  inside  the  same  pannel,  here  deployed  one  by  one 
along  a  frieze. 

II.  —  From  Griffiths,  The  Paintings  in  the  Buddhist  Cave  Temples  of 
.yifantd,  pi.  63  (fragment).  For  the  description  and  interpretation  of 
the  attitude  of  the  great  white  elephant  cf.  p.  195.  The  hunter  is  repret 
sented  twice,  first  prostrate  at  the  elephant's  feet,  \/ith  his  head  on 
the  ground,  then  still  squatting,  but  already  balancing  on  his  shoulder 
the  double  burden  of  tusks,  which  the  magnanimous  animal  has  jus- 
delivered  to  him. 


THE    SIX  TUSKED    ELEPHAN' 


PL    XXX 


1.  —    IN    GANDHARA 


2.  AT    AJANTA 


THE  SIX-TUSK£D  ELEPHANT  201 

nal  —  is  to  leave  it  to  the  future,  especially  now  that  we 
may  hope  for  everything  from  the  discoveries  of  manu- 
scripts in  Central  Asia  ('), 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  a  point  on  which  we  believe 
we  may  already  risk  a  categorical  affirmation  :  we  mean  the 
manifest  divergence  which  is  seen  between  the  version  of 
the  verse  text  oi  the  Jdiaka  (n°  i)  and  that  of  the  prose  com- 
mentary (n°  7).  This  divergence  is  not  to-day  remarked 
for  the  first  timeQ:  what  we  have  here  is  only  one  more 
striking  experimental  demonstration  of  it.  Read  afresh 
with  reference  to  our  list  the  text  of  Fausboll's  edition 
(V,  pp.  37  sqq.),  and  you  will  quickly  perceive  that  the  edi- 
tor of  the  commentary  in  its  present  form  knew  a  state  of 
the  legend  analogous  to  that  reflected  in  the  works 
numbered  8  to  11;  that,  if  he  did  not  follow  these  latter 
right  to  the  end,  it  was  because  he  was  hindered  at  each 
moment  by  his  text,  whose  ancient  particulars  held  him 
back,  nolens  voJens,  on  the  incline  down  which  he 
asked  nothing  better  than  to  glide;  and  that  finally 
he  applied  himself  as  well  as  he  could  to  inserting  be- 
tween the  lines  of  the  ancient  story  ornaments  borrowed 
from  the  later  legend.  Henceforth  you  will  hold  the  secret 
of  the  strange  liberties  which  he  takes  with  the  letter  of  the 
stanzas;  and  you  will  have  only  to  note  point  by  point,  as 
they  occur,  the  most  flagrant  of  his  offences.  You  will 
smile  at  the  palpable  cunning  with  which,  from  the  first 
line(p.  37, 1.  i),  he  transfers  the  name  of  the  elephant, 
Chaddanta,  to  the  lake  near  which  the  latter  dwells,  and  a 


(i)  It  is  known  that  Prof.  Luders  has  already  announced  the  discovery 
of  fragments  (still  unedited)  of  the  Sanskrit  text  of  the  Sutrdhnkdra. 

(2)  It  is  sufficient  to  refer  here  to  Prof.  Luders  in  GoUingische  Gelehrte 
Nachrichten,  1897,  p.  119,  and  M.  E.  Sekart's  article  on  Les  Abhisambud- 
dhag&thds  in  the  Journal  Asiatique,  May-June  1901,  pp.  385  sqq. 

16 


302  THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT 

little  further  (p.  41, 1.  23)  glosses  his  «  six  tusks  »  by  « two 
tusks  of  six  colours  » ;  for  you  know  that  the  latest  mode 
was  to  ascribe  to  him  only  one  pair.  Where  the  good  monk 
will  perhaps  seem  to  go  rather  far,  is  when  he  translates 
khura  by  kakaca  (p.  52,  1.  9),  and  unblushingly  essays  to 
make  you  believe  that  knives  are  saws,  in  other  words,  that 
chalk  is  cheese.  But  soon  you  will  content  yourself  with 
shrugging  your  shoulders  before  this  strange  and  system- 
atic perversion  of  the  text  which   he  was  supposed  to 
interpret ;  the  fact  is  that  you  read  his  hand  in  advance  and 
see  why,  before  allowing  the  hunter  to  descend  into  the 
ditch  specified  by  stanza  23,  he  believes  it  necessary  to 
clothe  him  in  the  kdshdya  of  a  monk  (p.  49, 1.  8) ;  why, 
when  according  to  stanza  24  the  whole  troop  is  scattered 
to  the  «  eight  cardinal  points  » ,  he  considers  it  more  suitable 
to  detain  by  the  side  of  the  wounded  one  at  least  his  faith- 
ful wife  (p.  50,  1.  9)  ;  why,  a  few  lines  further  down,  he 
has  her  brutally  driven  away,  for  fear  she  should  punish  the 
assassin  (p.  50, 1.  19),  etc.  And  when  finally  to  stanza  32 
—  which  states  merely  that  the  hunter  took  his  knife,  cut 
off  the  elephant's  tusks,  and  departed  —  he  openly  opposes 
(p.  52)  the  absurd  and  pathetic  account  which  we  have 
already  analysed  ('),  the  measure  is  heaped  up  and  the  cause 
decisively  heard.  If  the  gdthds  have  all  the  characteristics  of 
an  ancient  popular  plaint,  which  the  barbarity  of  the  pro- 
ceeding employed  by  the  hunter  to  get  possession  of  the 
ivory  forces  us  to  declare  anterior  to  the  Barhut  medallion, 

(i)See  above, p.  193. — It  on  all  these  points  we  have  not  referred  to  vol.V 
of  the  English  translation  carried  out  under  the  direction  of  Professor  Cowell, 
it  is  because  the  metric  version  of  Mr.  W.  Francis  (either  through  blind  con- 
fidence in  the  commentary  or  on  account  of  the  necessities  of  the  rhyme) 
seems  to  regard  it  as  a  duty  to  palliate  all  the  divergencies  between  the 
prose  and  the  verse.  Thus  it  is  that  the  beginning  of  stanza  je  becomes  on 
page  29  :  «  The  hunter  then  the  tusks  did  saw  •»  etc. 


THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT  203 

that  is  to  say,  to  the  11""*  century  B.  C,  it  is  no  less  evident 
that  their  atthakathd  was  not  merely  translated  into  Pili,  but 
also  accommodated  to  the  taste  of  the  times  by  a  cleric 
of  the  V"*  century  of  our  era.  It  is  a  chasm  of  at  least  seven 
centuries  that  opens  before  our  eyes  between  texts  which 
at  times  some  persons  have  desired  to  believe  contempo- 
raneous. 

Thus,  whether  we  arrive  at  simple  points  of  interroga- 
tion or  at  real  certainties,  according  to  the  case,  it  is  worth 
while  to  take  note  of  these  first  results.  It  is  well  known 
that  in  matters  of  chronology  the  Indianist  is  accustomed 
to  be  satisfied  with  very  little.  He  can  no  longer  neglect 
the  data  afforded  by  a  comparison  of  the  texts  and  the  mo- 
numents, wherever  they  lend  themselves  to  it.  We  have 
certainly  chosen  a  relatively  favourable  specimen  for  our 
attempt  :  but  as  regards  more  than  one  jdtaka,  and  even 
more  than  one  miracle  of  Buddha,  it  would  already  be 
possible  to  draw  up  a  table  analogous  to  that  whose  spon- 
taneous generation  we  have  just  encouraged.  We  may  au- 
gure  that  these  studies  in  detail,  in  proportion  as  excava- 
tions and  new  editions  supply  their  constituent  elements, 
will  come  to  each  other's  aid,  and  that  by  a  series  of  tests 
chronological  data  will  in  the  end  become  more  and  more 
precise.  From  that  time  it  would  no  longer  be  of  such  or  such 
a  particular  episode,  but  of  the  whole  Buddhist  legend 
that  we  should  succeed  in  distinguishing  the  successive 
states.  If  it  is  permissible  even  to  print  prognostica- 
tions which  are  still  so  vague,  we  should  be  very  much 
surprised  if  we  did  not  see  reproduced,  in  a  general  way, 
the  fact  dominating  the  present  list  of  the  versions  of  the 
Shaddanta-jdtaka.In  fact,  it  is  self-evident  that  these  latter  di- 
vide nearly  equally  into  two  large  groups,  profoundly  diver- 
gent from  one  another,  between  which  the  Singhalese  com- 


204  THE  SIX-TUSKED  ELEPHANT 

mentator  of  the  Jdtaka  vainly  endeavoured  to  construct  a 
bridge.  The  six  first  are  closely  connected  with  the  old  na- 
tive tradition  :  the  five  last  proceed  no  less  unanimously 
from  a  new  spirit,  which  probably  filtered  into  India  through 
its  north-west  frontier,  as  a  result  of  foreign  invasions. 
Thus,  this  table  would  be  before  all  an  excellent  illustration 
of  the  «  crisis  »  which  a  succession  of  great  political 
upheavals  at  last,  a  short  time  after  the  beginning  of  our  era, 
provoked  in  the  Indian  conscience,  and  which  has  already 
been  described  in  a  masterly  fashion,  by  M.  Sylvain  L6vi, 
writing  of  A^vaghosha  ('). 

(i)Xoc.  cit.,  pp.  73-74.   —  Since  the  above  article   was  written  Prof. 
Rapson  has  been  so  good  as  to   have  copied  by  one  of  his  pupils.  Mr.  W. 
H.  B.  Thompson,  under  his  direction  and  for  our  use,  the  version  of  the 
Shaddantdvaddna  from  the  Bodhisattvdvaddna-kalpalatd,  which  is  lacking  in 
the  Paris  ms.   (cf.  above,  p.  188,  n.  3),  according  to  the  mss.  Add.  i)o6 
and  91}  in  the  University  Library  at  Cambridge.  The  kind  communication 
of  this  copy  has  enabled  us  to  prove  the  identity  of  this  version  —  with  the 
exception  of  three  interpolations  —  with  that  of  the  Kalpadrumdvaddna.  It 
appears  that  the  author  of  the  latter  collection  restricted  himself  to  repro- 
dacing,  without  however  (in  any  way)  informing  the  reader  of  the  fact, 
the  work  of  Kshemendra,  except  that  on  two  points  he  has  lengthened  the 
narrative  of  his  predecessor,  which  in  his  opinion  was  too  much  abbrevia- 
ted. This  fact,  however  unexpected  it  may  be,  naturally  does  not  change 
anything  in  our  conclusions,  as  far  as  concerns  the  general  chronology  of 
the  successive  forms  of  the  legend  :  it  only  causes  us  to  think  that  the  Kal- 
padrumdvaddna and  Bodhisattvdvaddna-kalpalatd  agree  in  preserving  for  us  the 
version  of  the  canon  of  the  Mula-Sarvastivadins,  which,  as  we  know  (cf. 
above,  p.  151,  n.  2),  usually  serves  as  a  basis  for  the  poetic  lucubrations  of 
Kshemendra.  On  the  other  hand,  it  supplies  us  with  an  excellent  illustration 
justifying  the  reservations  expressed  above  concerning  the  chronology  of 
the  texts  :  here,  in  fact,  we  are  dealing  with  a  well-known  author,  who  wrote 
at  the  beginning  of  the  XI*  century,  and  who  yet  makes  use  of  a  version 
older  than  that  of  the  Sutrdlahkdra.  Thus  it  was  wise  on  our  part  to  consi- 
der as  an  acquired  result  only  the  demonstration  of  the  difference  of  time 
between  the  stanzas  of  the  Pali  Jdtaka  and  their  commentary.  We  are  happy 
to  be  able  on  this  last  point  to  connect  with  the  already  cited  evidence  of 
M.  Senart  and  Professor  Luders  that  of  Prof.  Oldenberg  (NachricUm  der 
k.    Gesellschaft  der   Wissenschajtm  lu    Gottingen,  Phil.-hist.    Klasse,   191 1, 
pp.  441  sqq.). 


Buddhist  Art  in  Java  C). 


The  Stupaof  Boro-Budur. 

The  ruins  of  Boro-Budur  (')  constitute  indisputably  the 
most  important  Buddhist  monument  of  the  island  of  Java. 
We  know  also  that  they  alone  can  compete,  in  the 
amplitude  of  their  dimensions  and  the  profusion  of  the 
bas-reliefs  with  which  their  walls  are  covered,  with  the 
other  gem  of  Far-Eastern  archaeology,  I  mean  Angkor- Vat. 
In  beauty  of  site  they  even  far  surpass  the  rival  wonder  of 
Cambodia.  Occupying  a  detached  position  in  advance  of 
a  small  chain  of  mountains,  which  forms  a  screen  on  the 
south,  the  eminence  on  which  stands  Boro-Budur  domi- 
nates the  vast  valley  of  Progo,  all  covered  with  shim- 
mering palm-groves  and  framed  on  both  sides  by  the 
majestic  summits  of  great  volcanoes.  To  the  west  stretch  the 
deep  recesses  of  the  Menoreh,  flanked  by  the  imposing 
sugar-loaf  of  the  Sumbing,  in  height  exceeding  10,000  feet; 
to  the  east  extend  the  wonderfully  pure  curves  of  the  twin 
peaks  of  the  Mer-Babu,  the  Mount  of  Ashes,  and  of  the 
Mer-Api,  the  Mount  of  Fire,  the  latter  still  active  ;  and 
in  the  northern  distance,  half-way  to  the  sea,  whose 
vapours  may  be  faintly  descried,  the  rounded  hill  of 
Magelang  represents  the  head  of  the  nail  which,  according 


(i)  Extract  from  the  Bulletin  del'Ecolefranfaised' Extreme-Orient,  vol.  IX, 
1509,  pp.  I  sqq.  These  notes  are  a  result  of  a  too  brief  stay  which  the 
author  was  able  to  make  in  Java  during  the  month  of  May  1907. 

17 


2o6  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

to  the  native  tradition,  fixed  Java  to  the  bottom  of  the  ocean. 
The  flat  and  marshy  borders  of  the  Cambodian  Great-Lake 
have  nothing  to  compare  with  this  subhme  scenery ;  and 
yet  it  is  a  fact  of  common  experience  that  Boro-Budur  pro- 
duces at  first  sight  a  general  impression  much  less  profound 
than  does  Angkor- Vat. 

No  doubt,  we  must  in  the  first  place  take  account  of 
the  difference  in  dimensions.  The  rectangular  base  of  the 
Khmer  monument  has  an  exterior  measurement  of  187  by 
215   metres;  the  lower  terrace  of  the  Javanese  building 
forms  a  square  of  1 1 1  metres  on  each  side.  The  former 
attains  an  elevation  of  5  7  metres,  whilst  the  present  summit 
of  the  second  does  not  reach  3  5  metres  above  the  first  steps. 
It  is  well  likewise  to  note  that  the  latter,  older  by  three 
centuries  or  so  and  exposed  to  the  same  destructive  agents 
—  torrential  rains  and  the  luxuriant  vegetation  of  the 
Tropics  —  is  in  a  worse  state  of  preservation  (').  But, 
after  all,  we  must  acknowledge  that  the  two  monuments, 
even  at  the  time  ®f  their  unimpaired  splendour,  had  from 
an  architectural  point  of  view  nothing  in  common.  Ang- 
kor-Vat deploys  on  tiers  rising  above  the  plain  its  three 
enclosing  galleries,  intersected  by  portals,  flanked  by  eight 
towers  and  crowned  by  a  ninth    :  Boro-Budur   encom- 
passes the  summit  of  a  hill  with  the  sacred  number  of  its 
nine  terraces,  connected  at  the  four  cardinal  points  by  stair- 
cases and  surmounted  by  a  dome.  At  Angkor- Vat  the  eye 
ranges  through  the  colonnades  or  follows  in  the  distance 


(i)  Boro-Budur  is  commonly  ascribed  to  the  IX"'  Century,  and  Angkor- 
Vat  to  the  XII"'.  The  leaning  walls  of  the  Javanese  Stupa  threaten  ruin  to 
such  a  degree  that  the  Government-General  of  the  Dutch  East  Indies  has 
been  moved  thereby.  The  friends  of  archseology  will  learn  with  pleasure  that 
a  first  grant  of  60,000  florins  (about  £  5,000)  is  at  present  being  devoted  to 
works  of  preservation  under  the  expert  direction  of  Major  Van  Erp,  of  the 
Engineers. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  207 

the  ever  narrowing  flight  of  the  porticoes ;  at  Boro-Budur 
the  lower  galleries,  interrupted  by  twenty  right  angles 
and  confined  on  the  exterior  by  a  high  parapet,  narrow- 
ly enclose  the  visitor  in  their  successive  recesses  (').  In 
Cambodia,  whether  from  the  end  of  the  paved  approaches 
he  contemplates  the  clearly  defined  silhouette  of  the  towers, 
or  whether  from  the  top  of  the  central  group  he  dominates 
the  widely  spaced  plan  of  the  enclosures,  the  spectator  al- 
ways embraces  in  his  view  the  grandiose  scheme  of  the  de- 
sign. In  Java,  from  the  foot  as  from  the  top,  nothing  is  ever 
perceived  but  a  compact  mass  confusedly  bristling  with 
432  niches  and  72  little  cupolas  forming  so  many  pin- 
nacles. The  fact  is  that  Angkor- Vat  led  the  devotee  by  the 
perspective  of  long  avenues  straight  to  the  dwelling  of  a 
god  ;  Boro-Budur,  on  the  contrary,  opened  no  access  in 
its  massive  sides,  which  were  destined  solely  as  a  shrine 
for  relics.  In  one  word,  the  first  is  a  Brahmanic  temple;  the 
second  is  a  stupa,  or  Buddhist  tumulus. 

That  the  architectural  form  of  the  temple  is  infinitely 
more  favourable  to  the  effect  of  the  whole  than  that  of  the 
mausoleum,  no  one  will  deny.  Still  this  reason  is  not  en- 
tirely satisfying;  nor  does  it  suffice  to  explain  what  at 
first  sight  is  «  wrong  »  with  the  aspect  of  Boro-Budur 
(pi.  XXXI,  i).  It  is  not  a  dome  with  simple  fines,  like  the 
most  ancient  Indian  stupas  which  are  preserved  to  us,  for 
example  at  Sanchi  and  at  Manikyala.  Neither  is  it  a  super- 
position of  quadrangular  diminishing  terraces,  a  kind  of 
pyramid  in  steps,  such  as  the  Chinese  pilgrims  describe 
the  «  pagodas  »  of  north-western  India.  Nor  has  it  the 
lengthy  slenderness  of  its  Burmese  or  Siamese  congeners, 
which  point  very  high  into  the  air  as  it  were  the  handle  of 


(i)  Cf.  pll,  XXXI,  2  and  XXXII,  2. 


208  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

an  enormous  bell.  To  speak  candidly,  it  seems  to  have  been 
unable  to  decide  clearly  whether  to  be  conical,  pyramidal, 
or  hemispherical.  The  vertical  indented  walls  of  the 
first  six  galleries  give  the  impression  that  the  monu- 
ment is  about  to  mount  up  straight  towards  the  sky  : 
but  with  the  three  upper  circular  galleries  this  start 
is  suddenly  frustrated,  and  the  whole  structure  assumes 
a  crushed  and  heavy  appearance.  Doubtless  we  must 
make  allowance  for  the  disappearance  of  the  crown  and 
the  depression  of  the  summit  under  the  influence  of  the 
rains.  Neither  must  we  forget  that  the  wide  band  of 
masonry  which  now  forms  the  first  terrace  was  construct- 
ed round  the  edifice  as  an  afterthought  and  contributes 
in  no  slight  degree  to  the  appearance  of  heaviness  (').  But, 
all  taken  into  account,  the  disappointment  of  the 
impartial  observer  exists  none  the  less.  That  a  great  tumu- 
lus can  never  be  anything  but  a  kind  of  huge  pudding,  he 
is  quite  ready  to  admit  :  but  there  are  puddings  which 
are  more  or  less  succesfuUy  constructed.  Without  irrever- 
ence we  may  say  that  the  stupa  of  Boro-Budur,  with  the 
endless  zig-zags  of  its  passages  and  the  profuse  ornamenta- 
tion of  its  pinnacles,  gives  at  first  the  impression  of  a  pasty, 
as  badly  «  raised  »  on  the  whole  as  it  is  minutely  carved 
in  detail  Q- 


(i)  We  know  that  the  discovery  of  this  peculiarity  is  due  to  an  engineer, 
Heer  J.  W.  Yzerman.  The  primitive  plinth  must  have  very  early  been 
buried  in  the  new  masonry  along  with  the  bas'-reliefs  wherewith  there  had 
been  a  commencement  of  decoration.  Doubtless  it  was  found  necessary  to 
strengthen  the  foundations,  which  threatened  to  give  way  under  the  thrust 
of  the  upper  stories  :  at  the  same  time  perhaps  orthodox  tradition  found  the 
addition  of  a  terrace  advantageous,  thus  completing  in  the  most  patent 
manner  the  sacred  number  of  nine.  This  addition  is  indicated  on  pi.  XXXII,  i 
by  the  divergent  hatchings. 

(2)  In  case  the  reader  should  be  tempted  to  think  that  these  criticisms 
are  made  by  a  prejudiced  and  particularly  surly  visitor,  he  is  begged  to  refer 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  209 

It  is  not  enough  to  state  the  fact;  we  must  also  explain 
it.  Certainly  we  cannot  question  the  skill  of  the  architect 
who  conceived  the  compHcated  plan  of  these  nine  stories, 
who  designed  the  mouldings  and  provided  for  the  sculptu- 
ral decoration,  who,  finally,  by  an  ingenious  arrangement 
of  gargoyles  carrying  away  the  rain-water,  made  sure  of 
an  indefinite  preservation  at  a  slight  cost  of  maintenance. 
If,  therefore,  he  pitched  so  low  the  summit  of  his  con- 
struction, he  must  have  had  some  reason  for  it.  We  confess 
that  this  reason  revealed  itself  to  us  only  in  the  evening, 
when  seeing  from  the  verandah  of  the  neighbouring  pasan- 
grahan  (*)  the  obscure  silhouette  of  the  monument  stand 
out  against  the  starry  sky.  The  contours  of  this  dark  mass, 
in  which  all  details  were  obscured,  presented  themselves 
to  us  as  distinctly  curved  (pi.  XXXIII,  i)  :  where  we  were 
seeking  a  pyramid,  the  builder  had  intended  only  a  dome. 
Thus  we  learned  our  error.  It  had,  in  fact,  become  usual  with 
archaeologists  to  regard  Boro-Budur  as  a  stupa  erected  on 
superposed  terraces  after  the  manner  of  those  of  north- 
western India  (^).  In  reality,  it  is  only  a  stupa  in  the  form  of 
a  dome,  according  to  the  old  Indian  mode,  but  much  more 
elaborate,  being  cut  horizontally  by  a  series  of  promenades 
and  itself  crowned  with  a  second  cupola.  The  influence 
which  it  has  undergone,  both  in  its  general  conception  as 
in  the  detail  of  its  mural  decoration,  comes  to  it  not  from 
Gandhara,  but,  as  is  natural,  from  southern  India,  where 


to  the  opinion  of  Brumdnd  in  Leemans,  Boro-Boudour  dans  Vile  de  Java, 
Leiden,  1874,  p.  679. 

(i)  This  is  the  Malay  name  for  the  traveller's  house,  corresponding  to 
the  Indian  bungalow  and  the  Cambodian  sdld. 

(2)  Such,  for  example,  is  the  idea  expressed  in  the  passage  of  our  j4rt 
greco-houddhique  du  Gandhdra,  I,  p.  80,  to  which  the  present  note  may 
serve  as  erratum. 


210  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

its  direct  ancestor  is  called  AmaravatiC)-  And  this  theory, 
imposed  on  the  most  uninitiated  by  observation  of  the 
monument,  is  confirmed  beyond  all  hesitation  by  an  exam- 
ination of  the  plans  and  elevations  which  have  been 
drawn  up  by  speciahsts.  The  ruling  lines  of  Boro-Budur, 
notwithstanding  the  right  angles  and  vertical  walls  of  its 
lower  galleries,  are  all  curves. 

Have  the  goodness  to  cast  a  glance  either  at  the 
designs  contained  in  the  grand  album  accompanying 
Leemans'  book,  or  at  our  plate  XXXII.  The  elements  of 
the  latter  were  borrowed  from  drawings  recently  execut- 
ed under  the  care  of  Major  Van  Erp,  who  was  kind 
enough  to  communicate  them  to  us.  We  have  restricted 
ourselves  to  adding  to  the  second,  for  the  purpose  of  our 
demonstration,  the  dotted  lines.  Thanks  to  this  simple 
artifice,  the  principles  which  presided  over  the  construction 
of  Boro-Budur  will  become  quite  clear.  The  plan  demon- 
strates to  us  in  the  most  evident  manner  that  each  of  the 
lower  galleries,  however  angular  they  may  be,  is  inscribed 
within  a  circle,  and  is  itself,  at  its  principal  points, tangent 
to  an  inner  circle.  On  the  elevation  we  perceive  that  the 
initial  project  of  the  architect  involved  the  construction  of 
an  edifice  assuming  the  general  form  of  a  segment  of  a 
sphere. 

Henceforth  nothing  remains  but  to  offer  him  our 
humble  apology  and  to  try  to  enter  into  his  views. 
Naturally  our  observations  of  fact  still  hold   good ;  but 

(i)  Cf.  Art.  g.-b.  du  Gandh.,  fig.  58,  a  model  of  a  stupa  from  Amaravati, 
where  the  procedure  in  decorating  the  walls  of  the  monument  with  the  aid 
of  bas-reliefs  and  the  recourse  to  a  promenade  intended  to  facilitate  access 
to  the  upper  row  of  these  latter  are  already  clearly  indicated.  Let  us  add  that 
the  excavations  judiciously  conducted  by  Major  Van  Erp  have  already  borne 
fruit  in  the  discovery  of  fragments  of  the  balustrade,  furnished  with  doors, 
which  formerly  surrounded  the  base  of  Boro-Budur. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  211 

what  we  took  for  defects  no  longer  appear  to  us  anything 
but  necessities  logically  imposed  by  the  initial  decision. 
It  was  in  order  to  keep  more  closely  to  the  horizontal 
sections  of  his  segment  of  a  sphere  that  he  gave  twenty 
angles  to  the  parapets  of  the  first  four  galleries  and  twelve 
to  that  of  the  fifth  :  if,  in  his  desire  to  furnish  his  band  of 
sculptors  with  plane  surfaces,  he  had  made  these  galleries 
simply  quadrangular,  they  would  have  extended  too  far 
beyond  the  primordial  inner  circle.  It  is  because  a  semi-cir- 
cular profile  does  not  mount  like  a  pyramid,  that  the  upper 
promenades,  themselves  circular,  are  necessarily  lowered. 
This  explains  at  once  the  contrast  between  the  steepness  of 
the  first  steps  and  the  gentle  slopeof  the  last(cf  pi.  XXXIII, 
2)  :  not  otherwise  does  one  mount  the  outline  of  the  upper 
section  of  a  globe  Q.  Neither  is  it  the  fault  of  anyone,  but 
rather  in  the  nature  of  things,  if,  having  once  reached  the 
top  of  the  rounded  sides,  one  can  no  longer  see  the  foot, 
just  as  from  the  base  it  is  impossible  to  perceive  the  sum- 
mit. If  we  likewise  reflect  that  the  architect  of  Boro- 
Budur  was  deprived  of  our  favourite  resource  of  colonnades, 
we  shall  understand  why  to  the  use  of  mouldings  he  has 
added  that  of  antefixes,  of  niches  and  cupolas;  and  we  shall 
no  longer  be  astonished  at  the  symmetrical  multiplication 


(i)  The  difference  between  the  steps  at  the  bottom  and  those  at  the  top 
is  so  great  that  from  the  first  to  the  second  gallery,  for  example,  thirteen 
steps  only  go  back  m.  3,56  in  rising  m.  3,84,  whilst  the  seven  steps 
which  lead  to  the  first  circular  gallery,  the  sixth  of  the  whole,  have  a  depth 
of  m.  3,40  in  rising  m.  1,80;  Wilsen  (ap.  Leemans,  p.  576)  asks  whether 
we  must  not,  in  the  steepness  of  the  first  steps,  see  a  symbol,  suggested  to 
the  minds  of  the  faithful  by  the  intermediary  of  their  legs,  of  the  difficulty 
of  attaining  to  Nirvana !  We  conjecture,  at  least,  that  the  impossibility  of 
imposing  upon  them  still  steeper  ones  is  one  of  the  reasons  which  decided 
the  architect  not  to  conform  in  all  things  to  the  ancient  Indian  formula  of 
the  «  air  bubble  on  water  »,  and  made  him  recoil  before  the  idea  of  assigning 
to  his  monument  the  form  of  a  complete  hemisphere. 


212  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

of  these  decorative  elements.  On  the  whole,  in  every  point 
where  we  were  ready  to  criticize  him,  we  must  now,  on 
the  contrary,  recognize  the  ingenuity  with  which  he  has 
turned  to  advantage  the  ready-made  formula  which  he 
had  inherited  from    the    ancient  religious    tradition  of 
India,  and  to  which  from  the  very  beginning  he  was  bound 
as  far  as  possible  to  conform.  We  cannot  render  him 
responsible  for  the  mediocre  architectural  effect  which  his 
monument  must  always  have  had,  even  at  a  time  before  the 
uneven  ruin  of  the  decorations,  the   subsidence  of  the 
summit,  and  the  crumbUng  of  the  corners  had  broken  and 
distorted  the  hues.  Let  us  add  that  his  first  plan,  by  at  once 
raising  the  level  of  the  first  gallery  almost  six  metres  above 
the  pavement,  indicated  much  better  and  in  an  incompara- 
bly more  elegant  manner,  the  form  of  the  edifice.  But  for 
the  heavy  terrace  in  which  he  very  soon  had  to  bury  the 
original  foundation  of  Boro-Budur,  and  which  still  to-day 
gives  the  structure  an  awkward  look,  we  flatter  ourselves 
that  we  should  have  made  fewer  mistakes  and  felt  less  hesi- 
tation concerning  the  real  intentions  of  its  author. 

II 

The  Bas-Reliefs  of  Boro-Budur 

(principal  wall  of  the  first  gallery) 

Whatever  from  an  architectural  point  of  view  has  been 
lost  to  Boro-Budur  through  the  tyranny  of  religious  tradi- 
tion is  abundantly  compensated  in  the  decorative  aspect- 
The  2,000  bas-rehefs,  more  or  less,  which  formerly  cover- 
ed its  walls,  and  of  which  about  1,600  still  exist  to-day, 
are  all  borrowed  from  the  legend,  or  from  the  Pantheon' 
of  Indian  Buddhism ;  audit  was  the  testimony  of  these  that 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  213 

from  the  first  established  the  sectarian  character  of  the 
monument.  In  abundance  and  variety  of  subjects  the 
Brahmanic  art  and  epopee  of  India  have  provided  for 
the  labour  of  the  sculptors  of  Angkor- Vat  nothing  com- 
parable hereto.  Neither  can  these  latter  vie  in  skill  of  execu- 
tion with  their  confreres  of  Boro-Budur.  While  their  chisels 
could  only  moderately  carve  the  fine  Cambodian  sand- 
stone into  rather  shallow  pictures,  the  artists  of  Java,  not 
disheartened  by  the  coarse  grain  of  the  volcanic  stone 
furnished  by  their  island,  have  drawn  from  it  veritable 
high-reliefs  of  an  astounding  depth.  Their  figures,  in  spite 
of  the  eflFeminate  softness  of  their  lines,  are  rightly  celebra- 
ted for  the  justness  of  their  proportions,  the  naturalness  of 
their  movements  and  the  diversity  of  their  postures.  Above 
all,  they  exhibit  a  knowledge  of  foreshortening,  which 
is  totally  lacking  in  the  later,  but,  owing  to  want  of  skill, 
apparently  more  archaic  works  of  the  Khmer  artists.  Even 
in  India,  if  we  except  the  few  chefs-d'oeuvre  that  we  still 
possess  of  the  schools  of  Gandhara,  Amaravati  and  Benares, 
we  find  nothing  to  surpass  this  final  Far-Eastern  flores- 
cence of  Buddhist  art. 

Among  the  hundreds  of  bas-reliefs  the  first  to  arouse 
interest  were  those  which  Leemans  calls  «  of  the  second 
gallery  »,  but  which  Heer  J.  W.  Yzerman's  discovery  proves 
to  have  originally  belonged  to  the  first.  This  gallery  is  a 
corridor,  having  an  interior  width  of  m.  1,85,  which,  with 
twenty  zig-zags,  encompasses  the  whole  monument  (cf. 
pi.  XXXI,  2).  It  is  enclosed  between  two  stone  walls,  built, 
like  the  rest  of  the  construction,  without  any  apparent 
mortar  and  interrupted  only  by  the  passage  ofthe  four  stair- 
cases, both  walls  being  ornamented  by  two  superposed  series 
of  bas-reliefs.  Among  those  which  decorate  the  parapet  (the 
«  anterior  wall  »  of  Leemans),  formerly  568  in  number, 


214  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

whereof  about  400  remain,  Dr.  S.  d'Oldenburg  has  already 
identified  a  number  of  jdtakas,  or  previous  lives  of  Bud- 
dha (0-  On  the  wall  itself  of  the  stupa  (the  «  back  wall »  of 
Leemans)  Wilsen  had  early  recognized  in  the  upper  row 
scenes  from  the  last  life  of  the  same  ^akya-m.uni ;  and 
Dr.  C.  M.  Pleyte  has  recently  published  a  detailed  explana- 
tion, according  to  the  Lalita-vistara,  of  the  120  panels 
which  it  contains  Q).  As  regards  those  of  the  bottom  row, 
the  greater  number  still  await  an  interpretation.  We  remark 
at  once,  by  the  light  of  the  identifications  already  made, 
that  these  pictures  conform  in  the  order  of  their  succession 
to  the  general  rule  of  the  pradakshind  Q} ;  that  is  to  say, 
they  follow  the  direction  taken  by  the  worshipper  who  cir- 
cumambulated the  stupa,  keeping  it  on  his  right  hand.  It 
results  quite  naturally  from  this  that,  on  the  walls  of  the 


(i)  S.  d'Oldenburg,  Notes  on  Buddhist  Art,  St.  Petersburg,  1895  (in  Rus- 
sian, translated  into  English  in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Oriental  Society, 
XVIII,  I,  January  1897,  pp.  196-201). 

(2)  C.  M.  Pleyte,  Die  Buddha-Legende  in  den  Skulpturen  des  Tempels  von 
Boro-Budur,  Amsterdam,  1901,  in-4°.  —  In  general  we  are  in  agreement 
■with  Dr.  Pleyte  as  to  the  identification  of  the  120  figured  scenes,  which  in 
fact  follow  religiously  the  text  which  they  have  undertaken  to  illustrate. 
All  the  same,  his  figure  14  seems  to  us  to  represent  not  «  Qakra  and  the 
Guardians  of  the  Cardinal  Points  »,  which  would  convey  nothing  particu- 
larly edifying,  but  the  Bodhisattva,  supposed  to  be  seated  in  his  mother's 
womb  beneath  the  «  pavilion  of  precious  stone  »,  at  the  moment  when 
Brahma  brings  to  him  in  a  cup  the  drop  of  honey,  quintessence  of  worlds, 
which  he  has  just  collected  in  the  magic  lotus  figured  in  the  preceding 
scene  side  by  side  with  the  Conception  (^Lalita-vistara,  ed.  Lefmann, 
pp.  63-4).  — As  to  figures  47  and  48,  not  identified  by  Dr.  Pleyte,  we  believe, 
paradoxical  as  the  assertion  may  seem,  that  they  represent  twice  the  epi- 
sode of  the  Bodhisattva's  wrestling,  first  with  a  single  competitor,  and  then 
with  all  his  rivals  together  (Lalita-vistara,  pp.  152-3).  This  is  why  on 
fig.  47  we  see  a  single  individual,  and  on  fig.  48  all  the  young  ^akyas,  stand- 
ing motionless  and  facing  the  Bodhisattva,  who  also  is  motionless  and  stand- 
ing :  so  inveterate  was  the  horror  of  the  sculptors  of  Boro-Budur  for  all 
violent  movements.  —  See  below  the  additional  note  on  p.  269. 

(3)  Cf,  Art greco-bouddhique  du  Gandhdra,  ,  p.  268. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  215 

parapet,  the  scenes  follow  one  another  from  left  to  right, 
while,  on  the  building,  the  succession  is  from  right  to  left. 
On  both  sides  they  accompany  the  visitor  who  makes  the 
round  in  the  only  direction  compatible  with  the  religious 
and  auspicious  character  of  the  monument. 

It  is  all  the  more  expedient  not  to  ignore  this  law,  inas- 
much as  the  identification  of  the  bas-reliefs  of  this  first 
gallery  is,  as  we  have  said,  very  far  from  complete.  Our 
attention  was  immediately  and  forcibly  drawn  to  the  120 
magnificent  panels  on  the  right  wall,  below  the  scenes  from 
the  last  life  of  Buddha.  Measuring,  Hke  these  last,  from 
m.  0,70  to  m.  0,80  in  height  by  circa  m.  2,40  in  length, 
about  three  quarters  of  them  have  until  now  —  partly 
through  the  fault  of  the  artists  and  much  more  through  the 
imperfections  of  the  only  reproductions  which  have  been 
pubHshed  (')  —  resisted  all  attempts  at  explanation.  At 
the  time  of  our  visit  we  had  at  our  disposal  nothing  but 
the  text  of  the  Divydvaddna  and  the  excellent  Guide  of  Dr.  J. 
Groneman  (^).  The  latter  indicates  in  the  series  in  question 
only  two  identifications,  both  again  due  to  Dr.  S.  d'Olden- 
burg :  one  is  that  of  the  legend  of  Sudhanakumara ;  the  other, 
which  is  connected  with  the  history  of  Maitrakanyaka,  has 
quite  recently  been  corroborated  and  developed  by  Prof. 
Speyer  and  Dr.  Groneman  at  the  cost  of  an  extensive 


(i)  We  would  speak  of  the  enormous  folio  album  of  393  lithographed 
plates,  which  is  annexed  to  the  already  mentioned  work  of  Leemans  and 
which  was  so  uselessly  and  so  expensively  designed  at  Java  by  Wilsen  and 
Schonberg  Mulder  from  1849  to  1853,  then  pubHshed  in  Holland  from  1855 
to  1871  under  the  care  of  the  Government-General  of  the  Dutch  Indies. 
(3)  Boeddhistische  Tempelbouwvallen  in  die  Prdgd-Vallei,  de  Tjandis  Bdra- 

boedoer,  Mendoet  en  Pawon,  by  Dr.  J.  Gronemann,  Semarang-Soerabaia,  1907. 

The  venerable  archaeologist  of  Jogyakarta  was  so  kind  as  to  accompany  us 

himself  into  the  galleries  and  even  to  the  summit  of  Boro-Budur;  we  cannot 

thank  him  too  warmly  for  his  trouble. 


2i6  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

correction  of  one  of  Wilsen's  drawings.  The  reading  of  the 
DivyAvaddna  gave  us  at  once  the  key  to  the  illustrations  of 
two  other  stories,  those  of  Rudrayana  and  of  Mandhatar. 
Then  two  or  three  of  these  rebuses  in  stone  themselves 
bear  their  own  solutions.  On  the  whole,  two  thirds  of  the 
120  panels  in  the  row  are  thus  clearly  elucidated  by  direct 
comparison  of  the  texts  and  the  originals.  At  a  time 
when  the  government  of  the  Dutch  Indies  is  preparing  to 
endow  the  world  of  letters  with  photographic  reproductions 
of  all  the  sculptures  of  Boro-Budur,  it  is,  perhaps,  worth 
while  to  pubHsh,  whhout  further  delay,  these  first  results, 
which  cannot  but  open  the  way  to  the  complete  explanation 
of  the  whole  Q. 

I.  South-Eastern  Corner.  —  We  shall  begin  our  prada- 
kshind,  according  to  rule,  at  the  gate  facing  the  east,  which 
formerly  constituted  the  principal  entrance.  The  proof,  if  any 
is  needed,  is  given  by  the  fact  that  here  begins  on  the  upper 
series  of  bas-reliefs,  the  legend  of  the  Buddha  Qakya-muni. 
The  30  pictures  of  this  series  which  are  comprised  between 
the  eastern  and  southern  staircases  exhibit  the  very  early 
events  of  his  last  life,  from  the  preparations  for  his  descent 
from  the  heaven  Tushita  until,  and  including,  his  last  re- 
birth upoa  earth.  Of  the  30  corresponding  panels  of  the 


(i)  In  order  to  save  the  reader  all  confusion  and  to  facilitate  the  refer- 
ences to  the  already  published  documents,  we  should  explain  that  we  here 
treat  in  detail  only  the  120  bas-reliefs  called  by  Lbemans  «  lower  row  of  the 
back  wall  of  the  second  gallery  »,  which,  occupying  the  base  of  plates  XVI 
to  CXXXV  of  his  album,  are  described  (but  not  identified)  from  page  194 
to  page  217  of  his  book.  We  will  retain  provisionally  between  .parentheses 
the  numbers  2-240  assigned  to  them,  —  the  odd  numbers  i  to  239  being 
reserved  for  the  120  bas-reliefs  of  the  «  upper  row  »  on  this  same  wall, 
the  row  which,  reproduced  at  the  top  of  the  same  plates  and  described  on 
pp.  121-193,  is  entirely  devoted  to  the  last  life  of  Buddha  and  has  been 
studied  by  Dr.  C.  M.  Pleyte. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  2I7 

lower  row  the  first  twenty  are,  as  Dr.  S.  d'Oldenburg  has 
briefly  recognized,  dedicated  to  the  legend  of  Prince  Su- 
dhana.  We  propose,  with  the  aid  of  the  text  of  the  Divydva- 
ddna  ('),  to  enter  into  the  details  of  this  identification, 
which  may  be  regarded  as  definitive  :  we  shall,  at  the  same 
time,  detect  the  methods  of  the  sculptors. 

Sudhanakumdrdvaddna-  —  i.  (L.,  pi.  XVI,  2).  «  Once  upon 
a  time,  says  the  text,  there  were  in  the  country  of  Paficala 
two  kings,  the  king  of  the  north  and  the  king  of  the 
south. ..  »  The  former  was  virtuous,  and  his  kingdom  pros- 
perous ;  with  the  second  it  was  quite  otherwise.  Leemans 
describes  the  bas-reHef  in  these  terms  :  «  A  prince  and  his 
wife,  seated  in  a  pendopo  (*)  not  far  from  their  palace,  are 
receiving  the  homage  of  a  great  number  of  persons  of 
rank  ».  Is  it  the  monarch  of  the  north  who  is  presented  to 
us  in  all  his  glory  in  the  midst  of  his  court?  Is  it  the 
sovereign  of  the  south  whom  we  perceive  in  the  act  of  dehb- 
erating  with  his  ministers  concerning  the  means  of  restor- 
ing prosperity  to  his  kingdom?  This  it  is  not  in  the 
power  of  our  image-makers  to  specify. 

2.  (L.,  4).  What  lends  more  probability  to  the  first  suppo- 
sition is  the  fact  that  in  the  following  picture  we  must  in 
any  case  recognize  as  the  king  of  southern  Pancala  the 
prince  who,  sheltered  by  his  parasol  and  followed  by  a  nu- 
merous cortege,  is  riding  on  horseback  through  a  conven- 
tional rocky  landscape.  Under  a  pretext  of  hunting,  as  the 
text  tells  us,  he  is  making  a  tour  of  inspection  through  his 
kingdom,  which  he  finds  completely  ruined  and  deserted. 
Perhaps  he  is  even  now  plotting  to  rob  his  flourishing 


(i)  S.  d'Oldenburg,  he.  cit.,  p.  200;  Divy&vaddm,  XXX,  ed.  Cowell 
and  Neil,  pp.  435-461. 

(2)  Probably  a  corruption  of  the  Sanscrit  word  mandapa,  which  signifies 
a  kind  of  hall  or  open  pavilion. 


2i8  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

neighbour  of  the  young  ndga  Janmacitraka,  who  resides  in 
a  pond  near  the  capital  of  northern  Pancala,  and  who  by 
«  dispensing  at  an  opportune  moment  the  exact  amount  of 
rain  which  is  necessary  »  assures  abundance  to  the  country. 
But  we  can  hardly  rely  upon  the  resemblance  between  the 
Brahman  ascetic  who  goes  before  him,  bearing  in  his  right 
hand  a  kind  of  bent  pruning-bill,  and  the  snake-charmer 
whose  witchcraft  we  are  soon  to  witness. 

3.  (L.,  6).  The  following  panel  represents  no  less  than 
three  episodes.  On  the  right  the  young  ndga — recognizable, 
as  on  the  sculptures  of  India,  by  his  coiflFure  of  serpents' 
heads  —  asks  upon  his  knees,  and  obtains,  the  protection  of 
the  hunter  Halaka.  In  the  middle  (cf.  pi  XXXIV,  i)  the 
same  Janmacitraka,  grieving  and  under  compulsion,  is  driv- 
en from  the  midst  of  the  waters  and  lotuses  of  his  pond  by 
the  influence  of  incantations  pronounced  (at  his  right  side) 
by  a  Brahmanic  ascetic  before  a  sacrificial  altar;  fortunately 
the  hunter,  standing  (on  the  other  side)  with  his  weapons 
in  his  hands,  is  watching  over  him.  According  to  the  text, 
he  is  about  to  put  the  charmer  to  death,  not  without  first 
having  made  him.  annul  the  effect  of  his  charm.  In  the 
third  group  (on  the  left)  we  must  therefore,  it  seems, 
recognize  the  same  Brahman,  not  reporting  to  the  king, 
whose  agent  he  is,  a  mischance  which  he  has  not  survived, 
but  at  the  moment  when  he  receives  from  this  king  his 
secret  mission.  It  follows,  therefore,  that,  by  an  exceptional, 
but  not  impossible,  arrangement,  the  episode  on  the 
left,  hke  that  on  the  right,  must  have  preceded  in  time  the 
one  which  they  both  enclose. 

4.  (L.,  8).  Next,  in  the  text,  comes  a  brilliant  reception 
at  the  house  of  the  father  and  mother  of  the  young  ndga  in 
honour  of  the  saviour  of  their  son.  This  is  indeed  what 
the  bas-relief  represents;  but  then  we  are  forced  to  admit 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  219 

that  for  this  occasion  the  hunter  has  donned  a  princely  cos- 
tume, much  superior  to  his  caste.  It  is  also  necessary  to 
supply  the  fact  that  in  the  meantime  he  has  received  from 
his  hosts  a  lasso  which  never  misses. 

5.  (L.,  10).  The  following  picture  transports  us  to  the 
Himalaya  mountains.  On  the  right  we  perceive  the  lean 
ascetic  figure  of  the  old  anchorite  whose  thoughtless  chat- 
ter has  guided  the  arm  of  the  hunter  Halaka.  The  latter,  who 
is  in  a  squatting  posture,  holds  the  Kinnari  Manohara  impri- 
soned at  the  end  of  his  infallible  lasso,  while  the  companions 
of  the  latter,  likewise  represented  in  human  form,  rush 
towards  the  left  in  their  aerial  flight  over  a  pond  of  lotuses. 

6.  (L.,  12).  At  this  moment,  we  are  told,  Sudhana,  the 
Royal  Prince  of  northern  Pailcala,  is  passing  with  a  hunting 
party  :  Halaka  perceives  him,  and,  in  order  that  his  captive 
may  not  be  forcibly  taken  away,  presents  her  to  him. 
We  believe  we  must  twice  recognize  the  hunter  in  the  two 
persons  respectfully  stooping  down  between  the  prince  and 
the  fairy,  who  are  standing  :  in  the  first  row  he  is  offering 
his  captive;  in  the  second  he  receives  the  reward  for  it. 
Leemans  was  wrong  in  speaking  of  «  a  few  women  of 
rank  »  :  Manohara  is  the  only  person  of  her  sex.  It  goes 
without  saying  that,  as  in  our  stories,  love  springs  up 
immediately  between  the  young  people. 

7.  (L.,  14).  A  king,  seated  in  his  palace,  in  the  midst  of 
his  court,  is  in  conversation  with  a  Brahman.  Without  the 
text  we  should  never  be  able  to  guess  that  this  king  is  the 
father  of  Sudhana,  and  that  the  interlocutor  is  his  purohita, 
or  chaplain,  the  traitor  of  the  melodrama.  The  latter  is  in 
the  act  of  perfidiously  counselling  his  master  to  confide 
forthwith  to  the  royal  prince  the  perilous  task  of  subduing 
a  rebellious  vassal,  against  whom  seven  expeditions  have 
already  failed. 


220  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

8.  (L.,  1 6).  The  unhappy  prince,  in  despair  at  having  to 
leave  his  beloved  Manohara,  obtains  permission  to  say 
farevi^ell  to  his  mother  before  beginning  the  campaign,  and 
begs  her  to  watch  over  his  young  wife.  That  the  bas-reUef 
does,  in  fact,  represent  an  interview  between  a  mother  and 
a  son  is  clearly  proved  by  the  higher  seat  of  the  queen  and 
the  respectful  attitude  of  the  prince. 

9.  (L.,  18).  Sudhana,  as  it  is  written,  stopped  «  at  the 
foot  of  a  tree  »  near  to  the  rebellious  town.  Fortunately, 
Vai^ravana,  one  of  the  four  gods  who  reign  in  the  air, 
foreseeing  his  defeat,  sends  to  his  aid  his  general  Pancika 
with  a  troup  of  Yakshas,  or  genii.  These  are  the  «  five  giants, 
or  evil  spirits  »,  mentioned  by  Leemans.  The  latter  con- 
tinues : 

10.  (L.,  20).  «  A  prince,  seated  in  his  house  with  his 
wife  and  two  servants,  is  giving  audience  to  six  men,  per- 
haps wise  Brahmans,  with  whom  he  is  engaged  in  a  very 
animated  conversation...  »  Here,  again,  it  is  only  from  the 
text  that  we  learn  that  the  locality  of  the  scene  is  transfer- 
red back  to  Hastinapura,  the  capital  of  northern  Pancala, 
and  that  the  father  of  Sudhana  is  asking  his  Brahman  astro- 
logers for  an  explanation  of  a  bad  dream.  The  wicked  chap- 
lain takes  advantage  of  this  to  prescribe,  among  other 
remedies  forestalhng  such  bad  omens,  the  sacrifice  of  a 
Kinnari.  The  king  seems  to  make  a  gesture  of  protest,  and 
his  wife  shows  manifest  signs  of  sorrow. 

11.  (L.,  22).  But  in  the  heart  of  the  king  the  instinct  of 
self-preservation  at  last  gains  the  victory.  Thus,  on  the  fol- 
lowing picture  we  see  the  fairy  Manohara,  with  the  assent, 
and  even  the  compHcity,  of  the  Queen  Mother,  flee  away 
gracefully  through  the  air  (pi.  XXXIV,  2). 

12.  (L.,  24).  Meanwhile  Sudhana,  by  the  aid  of  the 
genii,  has  triumphed,  without  any  shedding  of  blood.  His 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  221 

mission  fulfilled,  he  re-enters  the  capital,  and  begins  by  pre- 
senting to  his  father  the  taxes  which  he  has  recovered  and 
the  tribute  of  submission  from  the  rebels.  We  shall  not 
fail  to  observe  on  pi.  XXXV,  i  the  grace  and  suitability  of 
the  attitudes  of  the  various  persons. 

13.  (L.,  26).  The  prince  has  no  sooner  remarked  the 
disappearance  of  Manohara  and  learned  the  «  unworthiness 
and  ingratitude  »  of  the  king  than  he  again  has  recourse  to 
his  mother  :  it  is  interesting  to  compare  this  intervievv',  in 
respect  of  variety  of  attitude,  with  that  at  which  we  were 
present  above  (no.  8). 

14.  (L.,  28).  Once  again  a  royal  personage  is  presented  to 
us,  seated  in  his  palace  in  the  midst  of  his  court;  but  this 
time  he  has  a  halo.  By  this  sign  we  shall  recognize  here, 
as  well  as  in  nos.  17  and  18,  Druma,  king  of  the  Kinnaras.  It 
is,  therefore,  his  daughter,  Manohara,  who,  crouched  at  his 
left,  is  relating  to  him  the  story  of  her  romantic  adventures 
on  earth.  It  results,  further,  from  this  that  the  scene  is  sud- 
denly transported  beyond  the  first  chains  of  the  Himalayas 
to  the  distant  and  inaccessible  country  of  the  genii  and 
fairies.  The  sculptor  does  all  that  he  can  to  vary  in 
imagination,  if  in  execution  he  hardly  succeeds,  the  places 
and  persons. 

15.  (L.,  30).  However  Sudhana  has  set  himself  to 
search  for  his  beloved.  It  occurs  to  him  to  enquire  of  the 
anchorite,  whose  incautious  words  formerly  led  to  the  cap- 
ture of  the  fairy  by  the  hunter.  Now  it  happens  that  the 
faithful  Manohari,  bearing  no  maHce,  has  left  with  this  same 
rishi  a  ring  and  an  itinerary,  which  he  is  respectively  to 
deliver  and  to  communicate  to  the  prince. 

16.  (L.,  32).  Without  allowing  himself  to  be  discouraged 
by  the  length  and  terrible  difficulties  of  the  journey,  the 
hero  of  the  story  at  last  succeeds  in  reaching  the  city  of  king 


18 


222  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

Druma.  At  this  very  moment  a  crowd  o{  Kinnaris  is  engag- 
ed in  drawing  water  in  great  quantities  for  the  bath  of 
the  princess  —  because,  they  say,  of  that  human  odour 
which  she  has  brought  back  with  her  from  the  earth,  and 
which  will  not  disappear.  Sudhana  takes  advantage  of  this 
to  throw  the  ring  of  recognition  into  one  of  the  pitchers, 
which  he  recommends  to  the  servant  as  the  first  to  be 
emptied  over  the  head  of  Manohara.  According  to  the  text 
the  trick  is  played  without  the  knowledge  of  the  Kinnari; 
but  according  to  pi.  XXXV,  2,  so  elegant  in  its  morbidezza, 
it  cannot  be  that  she  is  deceived  concerning  the  intention 
of  the  gesture  and  the  motive  for  the  recommendation  ot 
the  young  man. 

17.  (L.,  34).  The  stratagem  succeeds  :  Druma,  warned  by 
his  daughter  of  the  arrival  of  the  prince,  after  threatening 
«  to  make  mincemeat  of  him  »,  is  appeased,  and  consents 
to  prove  him.  The  bas-relief  represents  Sudhana  standing  at 
the  left,  his  bow  bent,  ready  to  pierce  seven  palms  with  one 
single  arrow ;  on  the  right  Druma,  seated  and  with  a  halo, 
witnesses  his  prowess. 

18.  (L.,  36).  Finally  he  resolves,  as  is  written  and  as  we 
can  see,  to  grant  the  prince  his  daughter's  hand. 

19.  (L.,  38).  The  newly-wedded  couple  lead  a  life  of 
pleasure  in  the  midst  of  the  gynasceum.  According  to  the 
customary  Indian  and  Javanese  formula  these  delights  are 
provided  by  a  dancing  girl,  accompanied  by  an  orchestra  of 
musicians  of  both  sexes.  As  Leemans  has  shrewdly  remark- 
ed, the  royal  couple  do  not  seem  to  pay  great  attention  to 
these  amusements  :  they  do  not,  in  fact,  suffice  to  cure 
the  prince  of  homesickness. 

20.  (L.,  40).  And  this  is  why,  on  the  following  and  last 
picture,  we  see  him  and  his  wife  signalizing  by  a  distribu- 
tion of  bounty  their  return  to  Hastinapura. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  223 

Here,  we  believe,  ends,  both  on  the  monument  and  in  the 
text,  the  story  of  Sudhana-kumara  and  the  Kinnari  Mano- 
hara,  or,  as  we  may  translate  it,  of  Prince  Fortunate  and 
the  fairy  Charming.  The  ten  panels  which  continue  the 
line  as  far  as  the  southern  staircase  seem  to  be  devoted  to 
another  story,  in  which  the  exchange  by  sea  and  land  of 
portraits,  or  models,  of  the  hero  or  heroine  (')  plays  a  role 
sufficiently  picturesque  to  suggest  sooner  or  later  an  iden- 
tification. For  the  present  we   prefer  to  abstain  from  all 
hypothesis.  The  example  of  the  first  twenty  of  these  bas- 
reliefs   proves  clearly  that  it   would  be  idle  to  attempt, 
without  the  aid  of  a  text,  an  explanation  founded  solely  on 
the  intimations  of  the  sculptors.  Even  a  text  is  not  always 
sufficient  :  it  must  also  be  well  chosen.  We  have  just 
remarked  that  our  image-makers  have,  except  for  a  few  in- 
significant divergences,  followed  the  letter  of  the  Divyd- 
vaddna.  We  should  arrive  at  a  quite  different  result,  if  we 
compared  with  their  work  another  version  of  the  same 
legend,  preserved  in  the  no  less  ancient  and  authentic  col- 
lection of  the  Mahdvastu  Q.  There  we  have  no  more  ques- 


(i)  A  story,  likewise  Indian  and  Buddhist,  translated  from  the  Chinese 
by  M.  Chavannes  (Fables  et  Contes  de  VInde,  extraits  du  Tripitaka  chinois,  in 
Ades  du  XIV<^  Congres  international  des  Orientalistes,  I,  p.  94)  begins  with 
this  double  and  reciprocal  exchange  of  ideal  models  :  but  the  continuation 
of  the  story  does  not  seem  to  accord  with  the  scenes  of  our  bas-reliefs.  We 
may  also  recall,  in  the  legend  of  Mahakagyapa,  the  detail  of  the  fabrica- 
tion of  a  type  of  girl  in  gold  (Beal,  Romantic  Legend,  p.  317;  Schiefner, 
Textes  traduits  du  Kandjour  in  Milanges  Asiat.  de  St.  Peterb.,  VIII,  pp.  296 
sqq.,  or  Tibetan  tales,  p.  191). 

(2)  Ed.  Senart,  II,  pp.  94-115.  On  the  other  hand,  the  version  of  the  Tibet- 
an ^aw/wr,  translated  by  Schiefnzr  (Tibetan  tales,  pp.  44-74),  follows  exactly 
the  text  of  the Divydvaddna,  that  is,  as  has  lately  been  shown  by  MM.  S.  Levi 
and  Ed.  Hdber,  the  canon  of  the  Mfhla-Sarvastividins;  we  shall  have  to  return 
to  this  point.  Let  us  again  cite  two  versions  of  the  Sudhanakumdrdvaddna, 
the  one  from  the  BodUsattvdvaddnahalpalatd  (no.  64),  the  other  (pointed  out  by 


224  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

tion  of  a  preamble,  containing  the  adventures  of  the  ndga 
Janmacitraka  and  of  the  snake-charmer  :  also  it  is  not 
with  an  infallible  lasso,  but  thanks  to  a  «  truthful  word  », 
that  the  hunter  gets  possession  of  the  Kinnari.  There  is  no 
longer  any  wicked  chaplain,  any  expedition  of  the  prince 
against  a  rebel,  any  bad  dream  of  the  king :  it  simply  happens 
that  Sudhana,  having  in  the  excess  of  his  love  neglected  his 
duties,  is  put  into  prison  by  his  father,  and  the  fairy  is 
sent  home,  but  not  by  way  of  the  air.  Then  it  is  with 
two  hunters,  and  not  with  an  anchorite,  that  Manohara 
leaves  her  ring  and  her  directions  to  her  lover.  It  is  a  huge 
monkey  who  transports  the  prince  and  his  three  compan- 
ions to  the  town  of  the  Kinnari,  where  the  best  welcome 
awaits  him,  without  having  to  undergo  any  trial  of 
strength  or  skill.  In  short,  if  we  had  at  our  disposal  only 
the  Mahavastu,  scarcely  two  or  three  out  of  twenty  bas- 
reliefs,  for  example  the  capture  of  the  Kinnari  by  the  hunter 
and  the  throwing  of  the  ring  into  the  pitcher,  would  be 
susceptible  of  a  detailed  interpretation  by  the  aid  of  the 
text  :  and  yet  it  is  quite  evident  to  us,  thanks  to  the 
constant  accord  between  the  Divydvaddna  and  the  sculp- 
tures, that  the  identification  with  the  legend  of  Prince  Su- 
dhana would  be  on  the  whole  none  the  less  just.  This 
remark  deserves  to  be  borne  in  mind  throughout  the  deli- 
cate enterprise  of  the  explanation  of  these  mute  stories. 

II.  South-western  Corner.  —  We  should  be  tempted  to 
apply  it  without  further  delay  to  the  bas-reliefs  which  we  en- 
counter immediately  after  having  passed  the  point  where 
the  southern  staircase  crosses  the  first  gallery  of  the  stupa. 


Dr.  S.  d'OLDENBDRG,  Leo-«M(i«  bouddhiques,  St  Petersburg,  1894,  p.  43)  from 
the  Bhadrakalpavaddna,  no.  29. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  225 

Thanks  once  again  to  the  Divydvaddna  (*),  we  shall  there 
recognize  with  absolute  certainty  the  biography  of  the 
famous  king  Mandhatar,  as  familiar  to  the  Brahmanic 
legend  as  to  the  Buddhist.  But  it  is  only  from  the  eighth 
bas-relief,  counting  from  the  southern  entrance  (no.  76  of 
Leemans),  that  the  text  again  comes  into  line  with  the 
monument,  to  march  side  by  side  with  it  thenceforward 
as  far  as  the  twentieth.  What  does  this  mean?  Are  we  to 
suppose  that  the  first  seven  pictures  relate  to  another  story? 
The  analogy  of  the  south-eastern  corner  seems  to  supply 
stronger  reasons  for  supposing  that  the  first  twenty  bas- 
reliefs  of  the  south-western  corner  were  likewise  dedicated  to 
a  single  legend,  that  is  to  the  Mdndhdtravaddna  :  only  the 
sculptor  must  have  commenced  at  a  much  earlier  point 
than  the  compiler.  The  first  goes  back,  it  seems,  as  far  as 
the  incidents  which  preceded  the  birth  of  the  hero,  whilst 
the  second,  in  an  exordium  obviously  shortened  and  drawn 
up  in  telegraphic  style,  gives  a  rapid  r^sum^  of  his  first 
youth,  and  proceeds  to  expatiate  at  large  on  the  exploits  of 
his  reign.  Until  we  have  fuller  information,  everything 
leads  us  to  beUeve  that  the  story  of  Mandhatar  commenced 
at  the  corner  of  the  southern  staircase  and  not  right  in 
the  middle  of  one  of  the  faces  of  this  twenty-cornered 
gallery,  and  that  it  terminated,  like  that  of  Sudhana,  at  the 
fourth  angle  after  the  staircase. 

When  we  had  arrived  at  this  point  in  our  hypothesis,  the 
reading  of  the  Bodhisattvdvaddnakalpalatd  came  to  confirm 
it  in  a  most  unexpected  manner.  The  abridged  and  colour- 


(i)  XVII.  Ed.  CowELL  and  Neil,  pp.  210-228.  —Cf.  a  Pili  version  in  the 
Jataka,  no.  258  (ed.,  11,  p.  310;  trans.,  II,  p.  216),  another  Tibetan  version 
in  the  Kanjur  (Schiefner,  Mel.  As.  de  St-Pet.,  pp.  44°  sqq.,  or  Tibetan  tales, 
pp.  1-20),  and  a  third  Sanskrit  version  in  the  Bodhisattvdvaddnakalpalatd, 
no.  4  (Bibl.  Indica,  New  Series,  no.  750,  pp.  123-153). 


226  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

less  version  of  the  Pali  Jdtaka  no.  258  had  been  of  no 
assistance  whatever.  Neither  had  we  been  helped  by  the 
Tibetan  text  of  the  Kanjur  in  the  translation  of  Schiefner, 
which,  in  fact,  follows  with  great  fidelity  the  Divydvaddna, 
that  is  the  version  of  the  Mula-Sarvastivadins.  Kshemen- 
dra  does  the  same,  but  for  once,  in  the  midst  of  his  insi- 
pid concetti,  he  has,  at  the  beginning,  preserved  for  us  one 
topical  detail  (st.8-io) : 

«  One  day  Uposhadha,  anxious  to  assure  the  protec- 
tion of  the  anchorites  by  the  destruction  of  the  demons, 
mounted  on  horseback,  and  began  to  go  through  the 
hermitages. 

a  There  certain  rishis  of  royal  race  were  holding  a  vessel 
ready  for  a  sacrifice  celebrated  with  a  view  to  obtaining  a 
son  :  very  hot  with  the  fatigue  of  the  long  journey,  the 
king  drank  the  contents  at  one  draught. 

cc  No  one  was  there  to  prevent  him ;  and,  because  he  had 
swallowed  the  contents  of  the  enchanted  vessel,the  monarch, 
on  returning  to  his  capital,  found  that  he  had  conceived... » 

All  the  versions  agree  in  telUng  us  that  there  came  on  the 
head  of  king  Uposhadha  an  enormous  tumour,  very  soft  to 
touch  and  in  nowise  painful.  When  it  had  matured,  there 
issued  from  it  a  fine  boy,  for  the  charge  of  whose  nurture 
the  60,000  women  of  the  royal  harem  disputed.  To  the 
wonderful  circumstances  of  his  birth  he  owes  his  double 
name  of  Murdhaja  and  Mandhatar  — or  even,  by  confusion 
of  these  two,  Murdhatar.  But  what  is  of  special  importance 
to  us  is  that  the  Kashmir  poet  furnishes  us  with  the  only 
link  which  was  missing  in  the  interpretation  of  the  bas- 
reliefs  ('). 

Mdndhdtravaddna.  —  Henceforth  nothing,  indeed,  prevents 


(i)  Cf.  nearly  the  same  story  in  Mahahharata,  Dronaparvan,  LXII. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  227 

US  from  seeing  in  nos.  i(L.,  pi.  XL VI,  62)cand  2(L.,  64)  the 
rich  alms  which  King  Uposhadha  himself  bestows  and  causes 
to  be  bestowed  with  a  view  to  obtaining  a  son.  The  reason 
for  the  expedition  represented  in  no,  3  (L.,  66)  is  no  longer 
hidden  from  us  :  it  is  that  undertaken  by  the  king  (who  in 
this  case  travelled  in  a  litter)  for  the  protection  of  the 
anchorites.  No.  4(L.,  68)  takes  us  straight  to  a  hermitage  of 
the  rishis;  and  we  beheve  that  we  can  see  there  the  magic 
vessel  to  which  Uposhadha  owed  in  such  an  unusual  manner 
the  fulfilment  of  his  desires.  In  any  case,  it  is  in  the  follow- 
ing picture  (no.  5 ;  L.,  70)  that  the  child  so  much  desired  is 
at  last  seen.  Again,  nos.  6  and  7  are  probably  there  simply 
as  padding,  and  they  represent,  the  first  (L.,  72)  the  horo- 
scope of  the  future  cakravartin  or  sovereign  monarch  of  the 
world,  the  second  (L.,  74)  the  donation  intended  to  recom- 
pense the  astrologer.  These  last  incidents,  Uke  that  of  the 
alms,  are  very  commonplace;  it  is  easily  intelligible  that  the 
compiler  of  the  Divydvaddna  should  have  dispensed  with  a 
further  repetition  of  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  sculptors 
of  Boro-Budur  never  fail  to  emphasize,  as  hints  to  visit- 
ing pilgrims,  these  edifying  scenes  of  virtue  in  prac- 
tice. But  let  us  proceed  :  we  are  now  on  firm  ground, 
supported  by  both  a  written  and  a  figured  form  of  the  tra- 
dition in  mutual  accord. 

8.  (L.,  76)  a  Having  become  a  royal  prince,  Mandhatar 
goes  to  see  the  country.  »  We  do,  indeed,  perceive  the 
young  prince  at  the  moment  when,  starting  on  his  jour- 
ney, he  respectfully  takes  leave  of  his  father. 

9.  (L.,  78).  During  his  absence  the  latter  dies.  Among  the 
marvels  susceptible  of  representation  which  are  adjuncts 
of  his  coronation  the  text  signalizes  the  sudden  appearance 
of  the  «  seven  jewels  »  of  the  cakravartin.  This  is  why  we 
see  depicted  here  among  the  surroundings  of  the  prince,  who 


228  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

has  become  king,  a  disc,  a  jewel,  a  horse,  an  elephant,  a 
woman,  a  general,  and  a  minister. 

10.  (L.,  80).  The  Divydvaddna  tells  us,  immediately  after, 
that  not  'far  from  Vai^ali  there  is  a  charming  wood,  in 
which  reside  five  hundred  rishis.  Now  extraneous  noises  are 
the  scourge  of  pious  meditations.  A  surly  anchorite, 
annoyed  by  the  noise  of  certain  cranes,  breaks  their  wings 
by  a  curse.  King  Mandhatar,  angered  in  his  turn  by 
this  hardness  of  heart,  requests  the  hermits  to  depart 
from  his  dominions.  The  bas-relief  also  shows  us  birds 
placed  on  the  ground  between  the  king,  who  is  standing  in 
conversation  with  a  stooping  courtier,  and  two  rishis,  recog- 
nizable by  their  big  chignons  and  their  rosaries,  who  are 
fleeing  by  the  route  of  the  air. 

11.  (L.,  82).  Mandhatar,  continuing  his  tour,  decides 
not  to  have  the  fields  of  his  kingdom  any  more  cultivated ; 
for  the  corn  will  rain  down  from  heaven.  The  peasants  do, 
in  fact,  gather  up  before  his  eyes  bunches  of  ears  of  rice, 
which  have  fallen  from  the  clouds  :  we  expressly  say 
bunches,  and  not  sheaves,  because  in  Java  the  rice  is  not  cut, 
but  gathered  by  hand. 

12.  (L.,  84).  In  the  same  way  Mandhatar  decides  that 
his  subjects  will  no  longer  need  to  cultivate  cotton,  or  to 
spin,  or  to  weave.  Immediately  there  fall  from  the  clouds 
pieces  of  woven  material,  which  the  people  have  only  to 
catch  in  their  flight  and  to  fold  up  for  subsequent  use 
(pi.  XXXVI,  i). 

13.  (L.,  86).  Somewhat  vexed,  because  his  subjects  attri- 
bute partly  to  themselves  the  merit  of  all  these  miracles, 
Mandhatar  causes  for  seven  days  a  shower  of  gold,  but  only 
within  his  own  palace.  This  explains  why,  beside  the  king 
and  his  ministers,  we  see  here  only  women,  engaged  in  col- 
lecting the  treasures  pouring  from  jars  set  amid  the  clouds. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  229 

14.  (L.,  88).  Finally  king  Mandhatar,  preceded  by  the 
seven  jewels  of  the  cakravartin  and  followed  by  his  army, 
sets  out  for  the  conquest  of  the  universe  :  the  feet  of  none 
of  the  persons  touch  the  ground. 

15.  (L.,  90).  Here  the  text,  in  order  better  to  depict  the 
insatiable  greed  of  the  human  heart,  enters  upon  a  series 
of  repetitions  impossible  to  reproduce  on  stone.  King 
Mandhatar  has  for  a  herald  (purojava)  a  yaksha,  or  genius, 
who  at  each  fresh  conquest  informs  him  of  what  still 
remains  for  him  to  conquer.  On  the  monument  we  are  in 
the  presence,  once  for  all,  of  this  periodical  council  meet- 
ing ;  for  the  rest,  the  sculptor  has  given  to  the  yaksha  the 
ordinary  appearance  ofaBrahmanic  minister, 

16.  (L.,  92).  On  the  following  panel  he  conducts  Mandha- 
tar at  a  swoop  to  the  summit  of  his  prodigious  fortune. 
Two  kings,  exactly  aUke  and  both  with  haloes,  are  seated 
in  a  palace  side  by  side  on  seats  of  equal  height,  in  the  midst 
of  their  court.  Without  the  slightest  doubt  the  moment 
chosen  is  that  when  (Jakra,  the  Indra  of  the  Gods,  has, 
on  the  mere  mental  wish  of  the  king  of  men,  yielded  up  to 
him  the  half  of  his  throne  :  and  there  was  no  difference  to 
be  seen  between  them,  except  that  the  eyes  of  ^akra  did 
not  blink. 

17.  (L.,  94).  If  this  interpretation  were  at  all  doubtful,  it 
would  be  confirmed  by  the  picture  immediately  following, 
which  represents  a  combat  between  the  gods  and  the  Asu- 
ras.  Thanks  to  their  human  ally,  the  gods  triumph. 

18-20.  But  from  this  moment  a  certain  hesitation  begins 
to  manifest  itself  between  the  text  and  the  bas-reliefs ;  and 
immediately  the  uncertainty  in  our  identifications  reap- 
pears. According  to  the  Divydvaddna,  Mandhatar  after  the 
battle  asks  :  «  Who  is  conqueror?)) —  «  The  king  »,  is  the 
reply  of  his  ministers;  whereupon  the  infatuated  king  car- 


230  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

ries  his  presumption  so  far  as  to  wish  to  dethrone  Indra,  in 
order  to  reign  alone  in  his  place.  But  this  time  he  has  gone 
too  far.  Scarcely  has  he  conceived  this  thought  than  he  is 
thrust  from  the  height  of  the  heavens  down  to  the  earth; 
and  he  has  hardly  time,  before  he  dies,  to  pronounce  a  few 
edifying  words  concerning  the  excess  of  his  blind  ambi- 
tion. Consequently  no.  i8  (L.,96),  which  is  quite  analogous 
to  no.  15,  should  represent  the  last  consultation  of  the  king 
with  his  minister;  no.  19  (L.,  98)  should  be  dedicated  to 
the  last  words  which  he  pronounces  after  his  fall,  while  on 
the  left  Qakra,  standing  and  with  a  halo,  should  turn  away 
from  him;  then  finally  no.  20  (L.,  100)  should  show  us  his 
funeral  and,  as  befits  a  cakravartin,  the  depositing  of  his 
ashes  in  a  stupa.  But  these  explanations,  plausible  though 
they  may  be,  have  not  the  obviousness  of  the  preceding. 

Qibi-jataka.  —  We  should  say  the  same  of  those  which 
we  might  propose  for  the  ten  bas-reUefs  which  continue  the 
series  as  far  as  the  western  staircase,  excepting  the  sixth 
(L.,  pi.  LXXI,  112).  It  seems  indubitable  that  this  latter 
represents  the  essential  episode  of  the  Qihi-jataka,  that  is  to 
say,  that  previous  life  in  which  the  future  Buddha  ran- 
somed a  dove  from  a  falcon  at  the  price  of  an  equal  weight 
of  his  flesh  (').  At  least,  nothing  is  wanting  to  the 
scene,  neither  the  Bodhisattva  seated  in  his  palace,  nor  the 
bird  of  prey  perched  on  a  neighbouring  tree,   nor  the 


(i)  It  is  well  known  that  we  still  have  no  Indian  Buddhist  version  of  this 
form  of  the  legend.  Except  for  the  Brahmanic  epopee,  it  is  known  to  us 
only  from  the  allusions  of  the  Chinese  pilgrims  Fa-hien  (trans.  Legge, 
p.  30),  Sung  Yun  (trans.  Chavannes,  B.  fi.  F.  E.-O.,  Ill,  p.  427),  Hiuan- 
tsang  (trans.  Stan.  Julien,  I,  p.  137),  and  from  Chinese  versions,  such  as 
that  which  was  retranslated  from  Chinese  by  M.  Ed.  Hdber,  Sutralan- 
Mra,  Paris,  1908,  p.  330,  and  from  Tibetan  by  Schmidt,  Der  Weiseundder 
Thor,  p.  120. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  231 

pigeon,  which  appears  twice,  once  placed  on  the  back  of 
the  throne  and  once  in  one  of  the  plates  of  the  scales 
(pi.  XXXVI,  2).  This  time  the  bas-relief  would  be  sufficient 
for  its  own  interpretation.  We  feel  how  rare  is  such  a  case 
among  all  these  sculptures ;  and  the  greater  number  of  those 
of  the  upper  row  —  which  in  the  south-west  corner  extend 
from  the  birth  of  ^akya-muni  to  the  four  excursions  which 
determined  his  vocation  —  are  not  more  expressive. 

III.  North-Western  Corner.  —  The  bas-reliefs  of  the 
third  portion  of  the  first  gallery  (on  the  right-hand  wall)  are 
known  to  represent  in  the  upper  row  the  departure  of  Bud- 
dha from  his  home,  that  is  to  say,  his  entry  into  the  reli- 
gious life,  and  all  the  trials  which  preceded  the  attainment 
of  perfect  illumination.  Out  of  the  30  in  the  lower  row  at 
least  22 ,  and  perhaps  2  5 ,  are,  as  we  shall  show  step  by  step, 
consecrated  to  the  celebrated  historical  legend  of  king 
Rudrayana.  Again  it  is  in  the  Divydvaddna  that  we  may  read 
it  (*).  In  the  B.  i.  F.E.-O.  of  1906,  M.  Ed.  Huber  gave,  in 
accordance  with  the  Chinese  translation  and  the  Sanskrit 
text,  an  analysis  of  it,  from  which  it  clearly  appears  that 
this  avaddna,  like  the  preceding  ones,  is  only  an  extract  from 
the  Vinaya  of  the  Mula-Sarvastivadins.  In  this  connection 
M.  Huber  had  seemed  to  discern  through  the  drawings 
of  Wilsen  that  one  of  the  episodes  of  the  story,  viz.  that  of 
the  two  cats  (cf.  below,  no.  17),  was  represented  at  Boro- 
Budur ;  but,  justly  discouraged  by  the  inexactitudes  of  the 
only  accessible  reproductions,  he  was  obliged  to  abandon 
this  clue.  Direct  comparison  of  the  text  with  the  monument 
has  permitted  us  to  follow  it  up  from  one  end  to  the  other. 


(i)  XXXVII,  ed.  CowELLand  Neil,  pp.  544-586.  It  is  known  that  Bur- 
NOUF  translated  a  fragment  of  it  in  his  Introduction  a  I'histoire  du  Bouddhisme 
indien,  pp.  341-344. 


232  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

The  extremely  exact  and  sufficiently  detailed  resume  publish- 
ed by  M.  Huber,  to  which  we  refer  the  reader,  will  allow 
us  this  time  to  insist  a  little  less  upon  the  history  and  a 
little  more  upon  the  sculptures. 

Rudrdyandvaddna.  —  First  of  all,  we  must  state  that  we  do 
not  see  any  way  of  making  the  story  on  the  stone  begin  at 
the  corner  of  the  western  staircase,  but  only  at  the  first  reen- 
tering angle  after  the  face  intersected  by  that  staircase.  Do 
the  three  first  bas-reUefs  on  the  left  of  the  entrance,  in  which 
Qakra  plays  his  accustomed  role  of  deus  ex  machind,  form  a 
whole  by  themselves,  or  must  they  not  rather  be  a  continua- 
tion of  those  on  the  right?  Or,  on  the  contrary,  may  we  not 
some  day  come  to  think  that  the  story  of  Rudrayana  also 
comprises  a  prelude  omitted  in  the  Divydvaddna}  Only  the 
chance  of  reading  some  Indian  text  may  some  day  tell  us, 
even  if  we  have  not  to  await  a  solution  by  a  Tibetan  or  a 
Chinese  translation. 

1.  For  the  moment  we  begin  with  the  Divydvaddna  at 
no.  128,  pi.  LXXIX  of  Leemans,  where  Rudrayaria,  king  of 
Roruka,  questions  merchants,  who  have  come  from  Raja- 
griha,  the  capital  of  Bimbisara,  concerning  the  merits  of 
their  master. 

2.  (L.,  130).  A  king  is  seated  in  his  palace;  on  his  right 
a  courtier  holds  in  both  hands  a  rectangular  tablet  :  this 
must  represent  the  letter  which,  in  the  first  fire  of  his 
enthusiasm,  the  sovereign  of  Roruka  resolved  to  write  to 
his  cousin  of  Magadha,  Further,  two  suppositions  are  per- 
missible :  if  the  king  represented  is  the  sender,  his  name  is 
Rudrayaria;  if,  as  seems  more  natural,  he  is  the  addressee, 
he  is  Bimbisara.  We  do  not  ask  our  sculptors  to  decide  this 
by  attributing  to  each  of  the  two  monarchs  a  characteristic 
physiognomy :  that  would  be  exacting  too  much  from  them. 

3.(L.,  132).  Then  follows  a  grand  reception  to  welcome, 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  253 

or  to  say  farewell  to,  the  improvised  ambassadors,  in  a 
royal  court  no  less  uncertain.  The  Divydvaddna  ssljs  no  word 
regarding  this  function  :  but  the  meaning  of  the  mise  en 
scene  is  not  to  be  doubted;  and,  for  the  rest,  it  is  sufficient 
to  compare  it  with  the  1 1 2*  bas-relief  of  the  upper  row 
(L.,  pl.CXXVll,  223,or  Pleyte,  fig.  112),  which  represents 
a  grand  dinner  offered  to  Buddha.  There,  as  here,  the  table 
is  laid  in  the  Javanese  fashion  :  from  twenty  to  thirty 
bowls,  containing  divers  seasonings  or  viands,  surround  an 
enormous  pot  of  rice,  which  constitutes  the  principal  dish 
—  in  fact,  a  regular  rijstaffel  of  ten  centuries  ago. 

4.(L.,  134).  This  time  the  attitudes  of  the  minor  persons 
and  the  obvious  character  of  the  offering  define  very  dis- 
tinctly the  hero  and  locality  of  the  scene  :  Bimbisara  is 
receiving  at  Rajagriha  the  casket  of  jewels  which  Rudrayana 
has  sent  to  him  together  with  his  letter. 

5.  (L.,  136).  The  case  of  stuffs  sent  in  return  by  the 
king  of  Magadha  to  his  new  friend  occupies  the  middle  of 
the  scene  :  but  the  pensive  air  of  the  king  and  the  respectful 
immobility  of  the  attendants  make  it  doubtful  whether  we 
have  to  do  with  Bimbisara  deciding  upon  his  present,  or 
Rudrayana  receiving  it  and  already  wondering  what  he  can 
give  in  exchange  ('). 

6.  (L.,  138).  However  that  may  be,  the  following  bas- 
relief  again  represents  Bimbisara,  receiving  from  Rudrayana 
his  precious  cuirass.  This  object  has  been  so  terribly  mal- 
treated in  the  representation,  where  it  is  absolutely  unre- 


(i)  We  were  somewhat  inclined  towards  this  last  supposition  :  but,  all 
taken  into  account,  it  seems  impossible  to  establish  a  regular  alternation 
between  the  heroes  of  these  first  six  bas-reliefs.  If  we  must  admit  any  sym- 
metry between  them,  we  should  rather  be  inclined  to  think  that  in  nos.  1-3 
the  scene  is  at  Roruka,  and  in  the  three  following  at  Rijagriha.  Then  we 
return  to  Roruka  until  no.  13. 


234  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

cognizable,  that  we  think  it  advisable  to  give  a  photogra- 
phic reproduction  (pi.  XXXVII,  i). 

7.  (L.,  140).  The  total  absence  of  landscape  is  sufficiently 
rare  to  render  it  worth  our  while  to  direct  attention  to  it 
here.  The  whole  height  and  breadth  of  the  panel  are  occu- 
pied by  a  procession,  in  which  the  place  of  honour,  be- 
tween the  arms  of  a  man  perched  on  an  elephant,  belongs 
to  a  kind  of  rolled  up  kakemono,  on  which  we  know  that  the 
silhouette  of  Buddha  is  painted.  Doubtless,  the  scene  is 
taken  at  the  moment  when  the  inhabitants  of  Roruka,  who 
are  come  out  to  meet  this  supreme  gift  from  Bimbisara, 
bring  it  back  with  great  pomp  to  their  town. 

8.  (L.,  142).  This  picture  is  quite  analogous  to  no.  i, 
not  to  mention  that  it  is  likewise  placed  at  the  turn  of 
an  angle  :  only,  in  the  interval  the  subject  of  the  conversa- 
tion has  changed  in  a  most  edifying  manner.  It  is  no  longer 
the  merits  of  their  king  which  are  the  boast  of  the  people 
of  Rajagriha,  but  those  of  Buddha  himself. 

9.  (L.,  144).  Rudrayaria,  as  soon  as  converted,  begged 
to  receive  instruction  from  a  monk,  and  the  master  des- 
patched to  him  the  reverend  Mahakatyayana  :  a  monk 
is,  in  fact,  sitting  at  the  right  of  the  king,  and  even  on  a 
higher  seat  than  he.  In  the  most  gratuitous  —  and  also  the 
most  perplexing  —  manner  the  designer  considered  it 
necessary  to  surmount  the  shaven  head  of  this  monk  (cf. 
pi.  XXXVII,  2)  with  the  protuberance  of  the  ushnisha,  which 
is  special  to  Buddhas.  Let  us  add  that  Mahakatyayana  seems, 
in  the  midst  of  the  edified  hearers,  to  be  making  a  gesture 
of  refusal :  what  he  refuses  is,  doubtless,  to  preach  in  the 
gynseceum  of  the  king:  that  is  the  business  of  the  nuns. 

10.  (The  drawing  is  missing  in  L.;.  Thus  the  following 
panel  shows  us  the  nun  ^aila  preaching  from  the  height  of 
a  throne  to  the  king  and  four  of  his  wives,  who  are  seated  on 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  235 

the  ground  (pi.  XXXVIII,  i).  Behind  her  a  servant  seems  to 
be  ordering  three  armed  guards  to  forbid  anyone  to  enter  the 
harem  during  the  sermon.  It  will  be  noticed  that  —  doubt- 
less from  modesty  —  the  nun  and,  in  a  general  way,  the 
women  are  seated  with  their  legs  bent  under  them,  and 
not  crossed  in  the  same  manner  as  those  of  the  monks  and 
the  men  ('). 

11.  (The  drawing  does  not  appear  in  L.).  The  scene  is 
obviously  the  same,  except  in  two  points.  Firstly,  a  second 
nun,  squatting  behind  Qaila,  represents  doubtless  the  quorum 
necessary  for  an  ordination.  In  the  second  place,  there  are 
now  only  women  in  the  audience,  and  the  place  formerly 
occupied  by  the  king  is  taken  by  a  third  hhihhuni  kneel- 
ing. Immediately  the  text  invites  us  to  recognize  in  this 
novice  queen  Candraprabha,  who,  conscious  of  her  approach- 
ing death,  has  obtained  from  Rudrayaria  authority  to  enter 
into  religion  (pi.  XXXVIII,  2), 

12.  (The  drawing  is  not  to  be  found  in  L.).  That  on  the 
following  bas-relief  the  king  is  again  in  conversation  with 
his  favourite  wife  would  likewise  not  be  understood,  did 
we  not  learn  elsewhere  that  Candraprabha  was  born  again 
in  the  nearest  heaven,  and  that  she  promised  her  husband 
to  return  after  her  death  to  advise  him  as  to  the  ways  and 
means  of  reunion  with  her  in  another  life.  Here  she  is  ful- 
filHng  her  promise  (pi.  XXXIX,  i). 

13.  This  explains  also  why  the  very  next  morning 
Rudrayana  decides  to  go  and  be  ordained  a  monk  by  Bud- 
dha, and  announces  to  his  son  Qikhandin  that  he  abdicates 


(i)  In  the  same  order  of  ideas  we  may  again  notice  that  the  real  padma- 
sana,  with  the  legs  closely  crossed,  the  soles  of  the  feet  turned  upwards  and 
the  right  foot  forward,  is  reserved  by  our  sculptors  for  Buddha  alone  (cf. 
on  the  upper  corners  of  our  plates  XXXVII,  2  and  XL,  i  the  image  of  the 
Bodhisattva,  already  represented  in  the  form  of  a  Buddha). 


236  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

in  his  favour  (pi.  XXXIX,  2).  In  this  case  the  drawing  of 
L.,  pi.  XCI,i52,  reproduces  only  the  upper  part  of  the  char- 
acters, and  commits  the  very  grave  fault  of  making  the 
king's  interlocutor  a  woman  :  it  is  obviously  a  man. 

14.  (L.,  154).  If  the  four  preceding  pictures  are  either 
totally  or  partially  missing  from  Wilsen's  album,  the  follow- 
ing one  is,  in  compensation,  more  than  complete.  The 
designer  began  once  more  —  with  the  aggravation  of  an 
indication  of  locks  of  hair  covering  an  imaginary  ushnisha 
—  the  mistake  of  which  he  had  already  been  guilty  in 
no.  9  :  of  a  monk  with  a  round,  shorn  head  he  made  a 
Buddha!  Furthermore  the  two  scenes  nos.  9  (pi.  XXXVII,  2) 
and  14  (pi.  XXXIX,  3),  which  are  quite  symmetrical,  bring 
face  to  face  with  one  another,  in  the  customary  surround- 
ings of  a  royal  residence,  the  type  of  the  monk  and  the  type 
of  the  king.  Only  the  continuation  of  the  text  reveals  to  us 
that  this  time  the  monk  is  no  longer  Mahakatyayana,  but 
Rudrayana  himself,  who  has  just  been  ordained  by  Buddha 
in  person  at  Rajagriha.  In  a  long  dialogue  he  rejects,  for  his 
first  round  in  public  as  a  mendicant  monk,  the  seductive 
offers  of  Bimbisara.  You  may  well  imagine  that  it  was 
impossible  to  pass  by  so  fine  an  opportunity  for  reproducing, 
both  on  the  monument  and  in  the  text,  the  famous  episode 
of  the  temptation  of  the  future  ^akya-muni  by  this  same 
Bimbisara. 

15.  (L.,  156).  The  bas-relief  is  divided  into  two  parts 
by  a  tree,  and  the  different  orientation  of  the  characters 
emphasizes  this  separation.  On  the  right,  at  Rajagriha.  the 
monk  Rudrayana  (still  wrongly  represented  by  Wilsen  as  a 
Buddha)  learns  from  merchants,  natives  of  his  country, 
that  his  son  ^ikhandin  is  conducting  himself  badly  on  the 
throne,  and  he  promises  to  go  and  put  things  in  order.  On 
the  left,  at  Roruka,  King  Qikhaiidin  is  warned  by  his  evil 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  257 

ministers  that  there  is  a  rumour  of  his  father's  early  return, 
and  he  forms  with  them  a  plot  to  assassinate  him.  In  the 
background  is  to  be  seen  already,  in  her  private  palace,  the 
Queen  Mother,  who  in  this  portion  of  the  story  will  play 
a  very  important  part. 

16.  (L,  158).  The  panel  is  divided  like  the  preceding  one, 
and  the  separating  tree  is,  in  this  case,  further  reinforced 
by  a  little  edicula,  which  serves  as  porch  to  a  pahsaded 
interior  (pi.  XL,  i)  :  nevertheless  the  two  scenes  take  place  at 
Roruka.  On  the  right  king  ^ikaiidin  learns  from  several  per- 
sons (one  of  whom,  being  armed,  is  perhaps  his  emissary, 
the  executioner)  of  his  father's  death  and  last  words.  On 
the  left,  filled  with  remorse  for  a  double  crime,  the  murder 
of  a  father  and  the  murder  of  a  saint,  he  comes  to  seek 
refuge  with  his  mother  :  doubtless  this  is  the  moment  cho- 
sen by  the  latter  to  disburden  him  at  least  of  his  crime  of 
parricide  by  revealing  to  him,  truly  or  falsely,  that 
Rudrayaria  is  merely  his  reputed  father. 

17.  (L.,  160).  There  remains  the  taskof  exonerating  him 
from  the  not  less  inexpiable  murder  of  an  arhat,  or  Bud- 
dhist saint.  Is  it  worth  while  to  recall  the  ingenious  stratagem 
conceived  by  the  evil  ministers  in  order  to  prove  that  there 
is  no  arhat,  or,  at  least,  that  those  who  pretend  to  be  such 
are  only  charlatans?  On  the  left  we  perceive,  each  hidden 
under  his  stupa  (which  Leemans  wrongly  took  for  «  vases 
in  the  form  of  globes  »),  the  two  cats  which  have  been  train- 
ed to  answer  to  the  name  of  the  two  first  saints  formerly 
converted  by  Mahakatyayana.  On  the  right  the  Queen 
Mother  and  Qikhandin  take  part  in  the  demonstration, 
which  to  them  appears  convincing. 

18.  (L.,  162).  The  frame  contains  two  distinct  episodes. 
On  the  right  king  Cikhandin  passes,  seated  in  a  litter; 
surely  he  has  just  ordered  each  person  in  his  suite  to  throw 

19 


238  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

a  handful  of  dust  on  Mahakityayana,  with  whom  his  rela- 
tions have  never  been  cordial.  On  the  left  —  for  once, 
correctly  represented  by  Wilsen  —  the  monk,  already 
free  from  the  heap  of  dust,  under  which  he  has  miraculously 
preserved  his  life,  announces  to  the  good  ministers  Hiru 
and  Bhiru  the  approaching  and  inevitable  destruction  of 
the  infidel  city  of  Roruka. 

19.  (L.,  164).  Like  Qikhandin  in  his  palace,  we  witness 
the  rain  of  jewels  which,  according  to  the  prophet,  must 
precede  the  fatal  rain  of  sand.  The  eagerness  of  the  inhabi- 
tants to  gather  up  the  precious  objects,  cast  down  from  ves- 
sels O  in  the  height  of  the  clouds,  is  painted  with  a 
vivaciousness  which  seemed  to  us  quite  deserving  of  repro- 
duction (pi.  XL,  2).  In  the  first  row  a  boat  which  is 
being  loaded  with  jewels  proves  that  the  good  ministers 
have  not  forgotten  a  very  practical  recommendation  of 
Mahakatyayana  Q. 

20.  (L.,  166).  The  destinies  are  accomplished  :  Roruka 
has  been  buried  with  almost  all  its  inhabitants.  When  the 
curtain  rises  again,  we  are  in  the  village  of  Khara,  the  first 
halting-place  of  Mahakatyayana  on  the  route  of  his  return 
to  India.  The  tutelary  goddess  of  Roruka,  who  has  followed 
him  in  his  flight  through  the  air,  is  detained  at  Khara  by 
an  imprudent  promise  :  but,  on  leaving  her,  the  monk  pre- 
sents her  with  a  souvenir  in  the  shape  of  his  goblet,  over 


(i)  These  vessels,  which  we  have  already  encountered  above  (Mindhitar, 
no.  13  ;  L.,  pi.  LVIII,  86),  seem  to  be  a  current  accessory  of  Indian  imagina- 
tion. Compare  the  passage  from  the  Jdtdkamdld,  XV,  15  (ed.  Kern,  p.  97; 
trans.  Speyer,  p.  138),  where  the  clouds  pour  down  «  like  overturned  ves- 
sels ». 

(2)  Let  us  remark  in  passing  that  the  departure  of  the  two  good  minis- 
ters in  ships  scarcely  fits  in  with  the  localization  (which  was  surely  already 
known  to  the  author  of  the  text,  and  which  M.  Hober  recently  treated  again 
in  the  B,  £.  F.  £.-0.,  VI,  igo6,  pp.  335-340)  of  Roruka  in  Central  Asia. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  239 

which  a  stilpa  is  raised.  It  is  the  inauguration  of  this  monu- 
ment which  is  represented  on  the  bas-relief  :  on  the  right  is 
the  chief  of  the  village;  on  the  left,  with  a  lamp  in  one 
hand  and  a  fan  in  the  other,  is  the  goddess  herself;  behind 
them  crowd  the  laity  of  both  sexes  and  the  musicians. 

21.  (L.,  168).  We  are  carried  to  the  next  halting-place, 
Lambaka.  (^yamaka,the  young  layman,  the  sole  companion 
who  remained  with  Mahakatyayana,  receives  from  the  people 
of  the  country  an  offer  of  the  throne.  A  miracle,  which  is 
frequent  in  the  texts,  but  unsuitable  for  representation  on 
stone  (the  shade  of  the  tree  under  which  he  stands  remains 
stationary,  in  order  to  shelter  him),  has  revealed  to  them 
the  excellence  of  his  merit. 

22.  (L.,  170).  We  pass  on  to  the  third  halting-place,  Vok- 
kana.  Here  Mahakatyayana  leaves  to  her  who  in  a  former 
existence  was  his  mother  his  beggar's  staff,  a  fresh  pretext 
for  building  a  stupa.  As  in  no.  20,  we  are  present  at  the 
inauguration  of  the  monument.  At  least,  the  continuation 
of  the  narrative  accords  with  the  introduction  of  this  subject 
on  the  bas-reliefs  in  too  striking  a  manner  for  the  identifi- 
cation not  to  impose  itself. 

Better  still :  just  as  Leemans'  nos.  166,  168  and  170  set 
before  us  religious  feasts  interrupted,  thanks  to  a  not  excess- 
ive desire  for  variety,  by  a  profane  subject,  so  nos.  172,  174 
and  176  intercalate  a  land  scene  between  two  maritime 
episodes.  Now  this  intervening  scene  (L,  174)  represents 
the  entrance  of  a  monk  —  notwithstanding  the  drawing  of 
Wilsen,  who  lends  him  hair  and  jewels,  it  is  indeed  a 
monk  —  into  the  paHsaded  enclosure  of  a  town,  whilst  a 
group  of  inhabitants  approaches  to  give  him  welcome.  Here 
again,  with  the  text  in  our  hands,  it  seems  difficult  not  to 
recognize  the  return  of  Mahakatyayana  to  Qravasti.  Then, 
the  two  pictures  in  which  we  see  a  boat  just  drawing  near 


240  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

to  a  bank  would  represent,  no  less  scrupulously  than  do  the 
texts,  the  two  foundations  of  Hiruka  and  Bhiruka  by  the 
two  ministers  Hiru  and  Bhiru  after  their  flight  by  water 
from  Roruka.  Thus,  in  spite  of  the  terribly  commonplace 
character  of  the  two  disembarcations,  we  venture  to  make 
the  following  identifications  : 

23.  (L.,  172).  Landing  of  Hiru  and  foundation  of  Hiruka. 

24.  (L.,  174).  Return  ofMahakatyayana  to^ravasti. 

25.  (L.,  176).  Landing  of  Bhiru  on  the  future  site  of 
Bhiruka  or  Bhirukaccha  (*). 

The  double  repetition  of  the  scene  of  the  stupaand  of  the 
ship  will  be  noticed.  We  do  not  see  any  plausible  explana- 
tion of  it,  unless  we  suppose  that  the  sculptor,  after  having 
skipped  more  than  one  important  incident  in  the  history 
of  Rudrayana,  has  been  obliged,  in  order  to  fill  up  the  space 
for  decoration,  to  lengthen  out  the  epilogue.  In  fact,  we 
must  not  forget  that  the  bas-reUefs,  which  were  carved  in 
situ  and  in  the  very  stones  whose  juxtaposition  consti- 
tuted the  monument,  could  be  neither  removed  nor  repla- 
ced. There  is  no  absurdity,  therefore,  in  supposing  that  the 
artist,  on  approaching  the  last  angle  before  the  northern 
staircase,  perceived  that  he  still  had  to  fill  five  or  six 
panels,  of  which  he  could  not  decently  devote  more  than 
two  to  the  Kinnara-jdtaka  :  he  will  then  have  rid  himself 
from  his  embarrassment  by  a  double  repetition,  which 
moreover  was  justified  by  the  texts,  while  bringing  right 
to  their  destination  all  the  few  persons  who  had  escaped 
from  Roruka,  that  is  the  goddess,  ^yamaka,  Mahakatyayana, 
and  the  two  good  ministers. 


(i)  Apparently  it  is  Bharukaccha,  the  Barygaza  of  the  Greeks  and  the  pre- 
sent  Bharoch,  or  Broach,  which  is  meant. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  241 

Kinnara-jdtaka,  —  We  may  say,  furthermore,  that  the 
two  last  panels  of  this  portion  of  the  gallery  (L. ,  1 78  and  1 80) 
are  likewise  duplicates.  The  only  appreciable  difference  is 
that  the  same  prince  is  standing  on  the  first  to  overhear  — 
and  seated  on  the  second  to  listen  to  —  the  discourse  of 
the  same  pair  of  Kinnaras.  Such  is,  in  fact,  the  name  that 
we  do  not  hesitate  to  give  to  the  «  human  phenomena  », 
who  are  related  to  the  Gandharvas  hythtir  musical  talents  (') 
and  who  are  represented  here  with  birds'  wings  and 
feet  (pi.  XLI,  i).  The  Buddhist  art  of  India  and  the  Far 
East  seems  to  have  taken  no  account  whatever  of  the 
concurrent  tradition  which  claims  that  the  Kinnaras  are 
human  monsters  with  horses'  heads  Q.  When  it  has  not 
been  considered  more  suitable  to  give  them,  as  above 
(pll.  XXXIV,  2  and  XXXV,  2)  in  the  illustration  of  the  Su- 
dhana-kumara  legend,  a  purely  anthropomorphic  aspect,  it  is 
usually  a  kind  of  harpy  that  is  represented  under  this  name. 
This  strange  combination  of  the  bust  of  a  man  or  a  woman, 
with  or  without  arms,  grafted  on  to  the  body  of  a  bird,  is 
found  almost  everywhere.  It  fits  as  well  into  the  corners 
of  the  pediments  of  the  temple  of  Martand  in  Kashmir  as 
into  those  of  the  metopes  of  the  Parambanan  temple  in 
Java.  It  has  continued  to  be  especially  frequent  in  the  deco- 
rative and  religious  art  of  Siam.  In  India  proper  it  appears 
in  the  paintings  of  Ajaiita ;  and  we  have  remarked  elsewhere, 
in  a  sculpture  inscribed  on  the  «  Tower  of  Victory  »  at 


(i)  Gandhabhaputta  they  are  called  by  st.  7  oi  Jdt.  no.  481  (IV,  p.  252, 
1    16). 

(2)  It  is  not  that  monsters  of  this  kind  are  unknown  to  ancient  Indian 
sculpture ;  but  the  woman  with  a  horse's  head,  who,  on  a  medallion  of  the 
balustrade  of  Bodh-Gaya  (Ritj.  Mitra,  Buddha-Gaya,  pl.  XXXIV,  2)  and  of 
that  of  the  smaller  stilpa  at  Sinchl.is  carrying  away  a  man,  is  at  the  commence- 
ment of  }dt.  no,  432,  which  relates  her  history,  simply  called  a  yakkhini 
assamukhi. 


242  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

Chitor  (XV""  Century),  «  a  double  pair  of  Kinnaras  »,  per- 
fectly analogous  to  those  ofBoro-Budur(').  Perhaps,  under 
the  Kinnara-jdtaka  rubric,  they  were  not  otherwise  treated 
even  on  the  old  raihng  of  Barhut  :  unfortunately  we 
can  only  judge  of  this  by  a  wretched  sketch  from  a  half- 
broken  stone,  and  there  is  at  present  nothing  to  prove  that, 
as  Cunningham  suggests,  the  leaves,  or  the  feathers,  which 
terminate  the  busts  of  the  two  monsters,  «  must  have  separ- 
ated their  human  trunks  from  their  bird  legs  »  Q. 

We  consider  ourselves  none  the  less  authorized  by  this 
inscription  to  consider  the  two  numbers  178  and  180  as  a 
replica  of  this  same  jdtaka  :  what  other  justification  can  be 
given  for  the  edifying  character  of  these  scenes  and  for 
their  introduction  into  the  series?  Certainly  the  subject  is 
once  again  borrowed  from  one  of  the  previous  lives  of  the 
Master  :  the  only  question  is  exactly  which  «  re-birth  »  is 
concerned.  Here  the  two  prolix  pictures  of  Boro-Budur 
will  be  of  assistance  in  determining  retroactively  the  real 
identification  of  the  bas-relief  of  Barhut,  so  poor  in  details. 
It  is  here  quite  clear,  for  example,  that  the  scene  of  the 
adventure  is  a  rocky  solitude  :  we  must  at  once  put  aside 
a  certain  episode  in  the  Takkdriy a- jdtaka  (no.  481),  since  it 
takes  place  in  a  royal  court,  where  two  Kinnaras,  put  in  to  a 
cage,  refuse  to  display  their  talents.  Moreover,  we  cannot 
fix  upon  the  Candakinnara-jdtaka  (no.  485),  although  that 


(i)  We  brought  back  a  photograph  of  it  :  the  inscription  is  :  Kinmrayug- 
mayugma. 

(2)  Cunningham,  Stupa  of  Barhut,  p.  69  and  pi.  XXVII,  12  (cf.  above, 
p.  53).  GRiiNWEDEL,  Buddhistische  Studien,  p.  92,  points  outtbat  the  connec- 
tion between  the  Kinnara-jdtaka  of  Barhut  and  that  of  Boro-Budur  has 
already  been  shown  by  Heer  J.-W.  Yzerman  in  the  Bijdragm  tot  de  Taal-, 
Land- enVolhenhunde  van  Ned.  /wi.,  Vijfde  Volgreeks,  d.  I,  afl.  4,  pp.  577-579. 
Since  the  above  was  written  representations  of  Kinnaras  have  also  been 
found  on  the  paintings  of  Central  Asia. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  243 

too  has  for  scenery  a  piece  of  jungle  :  for  our  king  is  evi- 
dently not  thinking  ot  killing  the  male  Kinnara,  in  order  to 
get  possession  of  the  female.  It  therefore  remains  for  us  to 
adopt  the  Bhalldtiya-jdtaka  (no.  504),  in  which  also  we 
have  nothing  but  conversations  in  a  mountainous  dis- 
trict (').  It  is  a  most  touching  love  story.  The  king  ot 
Benares,  while  out  hunting,  surprises  in  the  depth  of  the 
wood  the  extraordinary  behaviour  of  two  of  these  mar- 
vellous beings,  and  enquires  why  they  cover  each  other 
ahernately  with  tears  and  caresses.  He  learns  that  697 
years  ago  they  were  separated  for  one  single  night  by  the 
sudden  swelling  of  a  river;  and  in  their  life  of  a  thousand 
years  the  loving  couple  have  never  yet  been  able  to  forget 
this  cruel  separation,  or  to  console  each  other  entirely  for 
those  few  hours  irremediably  lost  to  their  happiness.  It  will 
be  observed  on  pi.  XLI,  i,  that  the  sculptor  has  considered 
it  his  duty  to  maintain  the  hierarchical  order,  and  has  placed 
the  male  in  front  of  the  female,  as  if  he  were  the  interlocutor 
of  the  king:  but  in  the  text  of  the /ato^fl,  just  as  in  the  famous 
Dantesque  episode  of  Francesca  di  Rimini,  it  is  the  woman, 
always  the  more  ready  to  speak,  who  relates  their  common 
adventure,  whilst  her  lover  stands  silent  by  her  side. 

IV.North-Eastern  Corner.  —  Altogether  we  have  offer- 
ed certain,  or  at  least  extremely  probable,  interpretations 
of  2  7  out  of  the  30  panels  bordering  upon  the  preceding  cor- 
ner. The  30  still  to  be  considered  are  much  more  refractory 
to  all  attempts  at  explanation.  After  Messrs.  S.  d 'Oldenburg, 


(i)  In  other  words,  relying  on  the  replica  of  Boro-Budur,  we  believe  we 
may  for  the  bas-relief  of  Barhut  leave  aside  the  identifications  proposed  by 
Cunningham  (loc.  cit.)  and  Prof.  Hultzsch  {Ini.  Ant.,  XXI,  1892,  p.  226) 
and  advocate  that  of  Mr.  S.  J.  Warren  and  of  Dr.  S.  d'Oldenbdrg,  who, 
besides,  is  right  in  believing  it  as  not  more  demonstrable  merely  by  the  aid 
of  the  sole  Indian  document  than  the  two  others  {loc.  cit.,  p.  191). 


244  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

Speyer  and  Groneman  we  can  quote  as  certain  only  the 
dentification  of  the  MaitrakanyakdvaddnaQ').  For  the  rest, 
it  would  be  useless  to  launch  out  into  hypotheses,  where 
we  still  lack  the  elements  of  proof;  and  even  more  so  to 
renew  the  purely  descriptive  commentary  which  Leemans 
has  given  in  full  :  for  there  is  no  task  more  idle  than  to  des- 
cribe bas-reliefs  without  understanding  them.  Let  us  say  in 
defence  of  the  Dutch  archseologist  that  access  to  the  sources 
was  for  him  almost  impossible,  and  that  he  had  at  least  the 
perspicacity  to  recognize  «  that  the  pictures  of  the  lower 
series  do  not  form  a  continuation  of  those  of  the  upper  ». 
On  the  north-eastern  corner  these  latter  extend  from 
Buddha's  attainment  of  the  Bodhi  to  his  first  preaching. 
Below,  the  legend  of  Maitrakanyaka  is  related  to  us  between 
two  others,  of  whose  titles  we  are  still  ignorant.  Our  first 
care,  therefore,  must  be  to-determine  as  exactly  as  possible 
where  it  commences  and  where  it  ends.  The  texts  which 
have  preserved  it  for  us  (^),  and  to  which  we  are  indebted 
for  the  explanation  of  the  meaning  of  the  bas-reliefs,  agree 
in  rendering  the  story  in  two  symmetrical  parts,  separated  by 
a  turning-point.  Maitrakanyaka,  the  orphan  son  of  a  ship- 
owner, follows  at  first  various  trades,  in  order  to  provide 
for  the  needs  of  his  mother,  to  whom  he  successively  offers 
gains  increasing  according  to  a  geometrical  progression 


(i)  Cf.  the  already-quoted  paper  of  Dr.  S.  d'Oldenburg,  the  Guide  of 
Dr.  J.  Groneman,  pp.  66-67,  Speyer,  Bijdragen  tot  de  Taal- ,  Land- en  Folken- 
kunde  van  Ned. -Indie,  1906,  vd<=  Deel.,  and  for  the  comparison  with  Burmese 
and  Siamese  images,  Gkunwedel,  Buddh.  Stud.,  p.  97. 

(2)  The  Avadana-Qatalta  (ed.  Speyer  in  Bibl.  Buddhica,  p.  193,  and  trans. 
Peer  in  the  Ann.  du  Musee  Guimet)  gives  us,  it  seems,  a  canonical  version  of 
it.No.  XXXVIII  of  the  Divydvaddna  (ed.  Cowell  and  Neil,  p.  586)  is  already 
a  literary  rifacimento.  Further,  let  us  quote  Bodhisattvdvaddmkalpalatd, 
no.  92,  Bhadrakalpdvaddna,  no.  28,  and,  for  comparison,  Jdtaka,  nos.  41, 
82,  104,  369,  439.  A  Chinese  version  has  been  re-translated  by  Beal,  Roman- 
tic Legend,  p.  342. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  245 

of  4,  8,  16,  and  32  kdrshdpdms ;  but,  as  she  wishes  to  prevent 
him  from  following  his  father's  example  and  going  to  sea, 
he  forgets  himself  so  far  as  to  kick  her  prostrate  head.  The 
wreck  of  the  ship  which  he  has  fitted  out  marks  the  culmin- 
ating point  in  the  story,  of  which  the  second  part  corres- 
ponds, point  for  point,  with  the  first.  Having  escaped  death, 
Maitrakanyaka  is,  as  a  reward  for  his  works,  successively 
and  amorously  received  at  each  halting-place  by  4,  8, 
16  and  32  nymphs  (apsaras)  :  but  his  adventurous  spirit 
leads  him  still  further  and  further,  at  last  into  a  hell  where 
sons  who  strike  their  mothers  are  punished.  This  symme- 
try must  have  been  welcome  to  the  sculptor,  and  must 
have  dictated  to  him  in  his  turn  the  arrangement  of  his  bas- 
rehefs.  Now  the  scene  of  the  wreck  is  figured  on  no.  216 
of  Leemans  (pi.  CXXIII),  and  the  story  does  not  end 
until  no.  224.  One  might  suppose,  therefore,  that  the 
four  pictures  which  precede  no.  216  are  likewise  consecra- 
ted to  Maitrakanyaka.  One  thing  at  least  is  certain,  namely 
that  he  appears,  already  accompanied  by  his  mother,  on 
no.  212,  at  the  corner  of  the  north  and  east  facades  of  the 
stupa.  For  the  following  ones  we  are  entirely  in  accord 
with  Prof.  Speyer  and  Dr.  Groneman. 

I.  (The  drawing  of  L.,  no.  212,  pi,  CXXI,  is  almost 
entirely  missing).  Under  a  mandapa  Maitrakanyaka,  seated 
on  the  ground  with  his  hands  joined,  is  offering  to  his  mother 
a  purse,  which  he  has  just  placed  before  her  upon  a  tray 
adorned  with  flowers  (pi.  XLI,  2).  The  bystanders  are 
numerous  :  behind  the  mother  are  seven  women,  standing 
or  crouching;  behind  the  son  may  be  counted  five  of  his 
companions.  Quite  at  the  left  a  house  is  seen  in  outline. 
We  reproduce  in  plate  XLI,  2  only  the  central  group,  which 
alone  is  of  importance  for  the  identification  of  the  scene. 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  left  elbow  of  the  mother  is  as 


246  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

though  the  joint  were  twisted  :  let  us  not  hasten  to  cry 
out  that  this  is  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  sculptor,  or 
even  a  deformity,  at  least  according  to  the  native  taste  :  the 
skilfully  dislocated  arms  of  the  Javanese  dancing-girls  bend 
no  otherwise  in  this  position. 

2.  (L.,  214).  An  edifice  cuts  the  panel  into  two  distinct 
parts.  On  the  right  Maitrakanyaka  is  practising  his  last 
sedentary  occupation,  that  of  a  goldsmith,  as  is  proved  by  the 
small  balance  held  by  a  woman,  who  may  be  either  his 
mother  or  a  simple  customer.  In  the  foreground  a  purse, 
bigger  than  that  of  the  preceding  picture,  is  doubtless  sup- 
posed to  contain  the  3  2  kdrshdpams.  The  four  legendary  gifts 
would  thus  have  been  reduced  by  the  sculptor  to  two.  — 
On  the  left,  in  fact,  despite  the  poor  state  of  the  bas-relief, 
we  see  the  mother  of  Maitrakanyaka  vainly  prostrated  at  his 
feet  (pi.  XLII,  i).  Wilsenhad  given  her  a  moustache,  which 
cut  short  all  identification ;  and  this  explains  why  that 
ofDr.  S.  d'Oldenburg,  based  upon  the  lithographs,  began 
only  at  the  following  picture,  that  of  the  wreck. 

3.  (L.,  216).  The  supplications  of  his  mother  failed  to 
restrain  Maitrakanyaka;  on  the  right  we  see  the  sad  end  of 
his  sea-voyage,  on  the  left  his  encounter  with  the  four  first 
nymphs.  Here  the  sculptor  seems  to  have  been  afraid 
neither  of  repeating  himself  nor  of  wearying  the  spectator 
by  the  sight  of  so  many  pretty  women ;  for  we  perceive 
successively  : 

4.  (L.,  218).  The  encounter  with  the  8  nymphs; 

5.  (L.,  220).  The  encounter  with  the  16  nymphs  (in 
point  of  fact  they  are  1 1); 

6.  (L.,  222).  The  encounter  with  the  32  nymphs  (14  in 
reality). 

7.  (L.,  224).  At  last  the  mania  for  roaming  has  led  Mai- 
trakanyaka as  far  as  a  town  of  hell  (pi.  XLII,  2)  :  apparently 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  247 

he  is  gathering  information  from  the  terrible  guardian  of  the 
place,  whilst  in  the  background  we  perceive,  with  a  burn- 
ing wheel  upon   its  head,  the  condemned   soul  whose 
place,  unwittingly,  he  has  come  to  take.  For  the  rest  both 
wear  the  same  costume,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  details 
in  the  form  of  their  jewels.  But  these  differences,  slight 
though  they  be,  exclude,  it  appears,  the  possibiUty  of  recog- 
nizing Maitrakanyaka  a  second  time  in  the  sufferer.  There 
is  every  reason  for  believing,  on  the  contrary,  that,  owing 
to  a  scruple  of  the  artist,  just  as  we  did  not  see  him  strike 
his  mother,  so  also  we  are  not  witnesses  of  his  punish- 
ment :  like  his  crime,  his  chastizement  is  only  suggested. 
We  must  not  forget,  in  fact,  that  he  is  the  Bodhisattva  in 
person.  According  to  the  texts,  the  wheel  of  fire  has  scarce- 
ly mounted   upon  his   head,   than  he  forms  a   vow  to 
endure  this  terrible  suffering  for  ever  with  a  view  to  the 
salvation  of  humanity  :  whereupon  he  is  immediately  freed 
from  all  suffering.  Does  the  left  part  of  the  panel  forth- 
with represent   this  apotheosis?  Or  does  the  palisading 
which  intersects   the  building,  while  at  the  same  time 
determining  the  boundaries  of  the  interior  of  the  infernal 
town,  serve  as  a  framework  for  a  new  action?  This  it  is 
almost  impossible  for  us  to  decide,  so  long  as  we  have  not 
identified  in  their  turn  the  eight  panels  of  the  following 
and  final  story. 

Let  us  sum  up  :  the  principal  wall  of  the  first  gallery  of 
Boro-Budur  is  decorated  with  240  bas-reliefs,  arranged  in 
two  rows;  all  those  of  the  upper  row  have  already  been 
identified  by  the  help  of  the  Laliia-vistara ;  thanks  especially 
to  the  Divydvaddna,  the  same  may  now  be  said  of  two 
thirds  of  those  of  the  lower  row.  This  recapitulation  of  the 
results  obtained  not  only  encourages  us  to  hope  for  the 


248  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

fortunate   completion   of  this  enterprise  in  a  relatively 
near  future  :  it  also  allows  us  to  discern  the  ways  and 
means  to  the  ultimate  success,  as  well  as  the  difficulties 
which  we  shall  continue  to  encounter.  Among  the  first  of 
these  we  must  naturally  place  the  absence  of  satisfactory 
reproductions.  The  long  series  which  we  have  just  examin- 
ed would  doubtless  have  been  recognized  long  ago,  as  were 
immediately  the  scenes,  in  two  or  three  pictures,  of  the  jdta- 
kas  figured  on  the  opposite  wall,  if  the  published  drawings 
had  been  perfectly  exact.  But  a  slight  inattention  —  such  as, 
in  the  story  of  Maitrakanyaka,  the  change  of  sex  of  a  person, 
or,  in  that  of  Rudrayana,  the  transformation  of  a  monk  into 
a  Buddha  —  is,  as  may  be  conceived,  sufficient  to  put  us 
off  the  scent,  and   forces  archaeologists  who   have  not 
direct  access  to  the  originals  to  abandon  the  most  judi- 
ciously chosen  clue.  We  must,  therefore,  rejoice  that  the 
Government-General  of  the  Dutch   Indies  has  recently 
sanctioned  the  project  of  photographing  all  the  sculptures 
still  existing  at  Boro-Budur.  Doubtless  it  will,  with  its 
accustomed  generosity,  not  fail  to  distribute  copies  among 
the  various  societies  for  oriental  studies.  On  this  condition 
alone  will  the  enigmas  which  still  resist,  although  invaded 
on  all  four  sides  at  once,  finally  yield  to  the  collective 
researches  of  students  of  Buddhism;  in  the  meantime  we 
cannot  legitimately  reproach  the  latter  for  having  left  so 
long  unexplained  a  monument  of  this  importance. 

Does  this  mean  that  it  is  sufficient  to  cast  one's  eyes 
upon  exact  reproductions,  or  even  upon  the  originals,  of 
these  bas-reliefs,  whose  narrative  aim  is  not  doubtful,  in 
order  to  understand  their  meaning?  The  preceding  identi- 
fications prove  clearly  enough  that  it  is  also  necessary  to 
know  beforehand  the  story  which  they  would  tell.  And, 
doubtless,  the  blame  for  this  belongs  to  some  extent  to  the 


BUDDHISt  ART  IN  JAVA  249 

sculptors  :  still  it  would  be  well,  before  devolving  upon 
them  the  burden  of  our  ignorance,  to  have  present  to  our 
minds  the  conditions  under  which  they  must  have  worked. 
Firstly,  enormous  surfaces  were  given  them  to  be  covered  : 
on  the  principal  wall  of  the  first  gallery  alone  the  240 
panels  there  aligned  have  an  area  of  more  than  400  square 
metres !  In  truth,  it  was  not  so  much  sculpture  as  decorative 
fresco-work  that  was  exacted  from  them.  Hence  we 
understand  why  in  the  120  pictures  of  the  upper  row  they 
should  have  spun  out  the  childhood  and  youth  of  their 
Master,  whilst  in  the  120  of  the  lower  one  they  somewhat 
lengthened  out  the  ten  avaddnas  to  which  they  had  recourse 
in  order  to  fill  the  space.  It  was  materially  impossible  for 
them  to  keep  solely  to  the  picturesque  or  pathetic  episodes, 
that  is  to  those  which  alone  had  a  chance  of  being  imme- 
diately recognized  by  the  spectator,  and  which  were 
capable  of  forthwith  arousing  in  the  faithful  of  former 
days  the  memory  of  some  tradition  and  in  the  archaeo- 
logist of  to-day  the  recollection  of  some  reading.  For  them 
every  incident  is  good,  provided  that  it  lends  itself  docile- 
ly to  representation.  We  may  even  ask  ourselves  whe- 
ther the  most  colourless  motifs  are  not  in  their  view  the 
best.  They  are  really  too  fond  of  scenes  in  which  every- 
thing takes  place  by  way  of  visits  and  conversations  be- 
tween persons  whose  discreet  gestures,  such  as  are  becom- 
ing to  people  of  good  company,  tell  us  absolutely  nothing 
concerning  the  course  of  events.  If  this  abuse  is,  strictly 
speaking,  excusable,  they  do  not,  in  our  opinion,  escape 
the  reproach  of  having  more  than  once  evaded  the  difficulty 
by  intentionally  omitting,  and  replacing  by  insipid  recep- 
tions at  court,  subjects  more  dramatic  and  consequently 
better  fitted  to  make  us  grasp  the  thread  of  the  story  ('). 

(i)  It  is,  of  course,  understood  that  we  are  here  speaking  from  the  point 


2^0  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

Not  only  are  the  characteristic  episodes  thus  drowned 
in  a  dull,  monotonous  flood  of  pictures  without  move- 
ment, but  even  in  each  picture  the  principal  motif^  is 
often'submerged  under  a  veritable  debauch  of  accessories 
and  details.  The  only  excuse  here  for  the  artists  is  to  be 
found  in  the  form  of  the  frame,  which  is  at  least  three  times 
as  wide  as  it  is  high.  Consequently  there  is  no  great  per- 
sonage whose  cortege  is  not  spread  out  to  form  a  wall- 
covering, sometimes  over  several  rows.  True,  the  presence 
of  these  numerous  dumb  actors  is  quite  conformable  to 
Javanese,  as  well  as  to  Indian,  custom;  but  it  is  understood 
that  most  often  they  take  no  part  in  the  action  :  they  con- 
fine themselves  to  crowding  it  with  their  stereotyped 
repetition,  which  is  more  or  less  compensated  by  the  variety 
of  the  attitudes,  always  deftly  treated.  This  is  not  all :  the 
sculptors  have  made  it,  as  it  were,  a  point  of  honour  not  to 
leave  vacant  any  part  of  the  surface  at  their  disposal.  In 
order  to  complete  the  furnishing  of  their  panels,  they  go 
so  far  as  to  fill  the  space  beneath  the  seats  with  coffers  or 
vases  (cf.  pll.  XXXV,  i ;  XXXVIII,  2 ;  XXXIX,  i ;  XL,  i); 
at  the  top  they  heap  together,  according  to  circumstances, 
buildings  or  trees,  naturally  figured  on  a  reduced  scale;  or 
again  rocks,  treated  according  to  the  old  Indian  convention 
(cf.  pll.  XXXVII,  2,  upper  scene;  XLI,  i);  or,  finally,  ani- 

of  view  of  the  identification  of  these  bas-reliefs.  Ail  the  less  must  we  forget 
that  we  are  treating  of  images  of  piety,  the  more  mindful  the  sculptors 
themselves  were  of  this.  Their  evident  decision  to  put  aside  all  scenes  of 
violence  (bloody  sacrifices,  executions,  murders,  parricide,  etc.)  offered  by 
their  subjects,  is  justified,  like  their  irreproachable  chastity,  by  the  desire 
to  arouse  in  the  mind  of  the  faithful  none  but  calm  and  collected,  in  one 
word,  truly  Buddhist  impressions.  This  they  have  perfectly  succeeded  in 
doing,  and  we  are  rather  in  the  wrong  to  reproach  them  for  it.  It  is  not 
entirely  their  fault  if  our  western  taste,  corrupted  by  an  excessive  striving 
for  expression  and  movement,  is  especially  affected  by  the  monotony  of  these 
series,  whose  edifying  character  remains  to  us  a  dead  letter. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  251 

mals  of  all  kinds,  cleverly  sketched,  indeed,  from  life,  with 
the  single  exception  of  the  horses,  which  are  mediocre  (cf. 
pi.  XXXVI,  2,  upper  scene).  It  may  be  imagined  that  the 
clearness  of  the  story  is  not  much  enhanced  by  this 
crowding,  the  more  so  as  there  is  nothing  to  tell  us,  for 
example,  whether  the  animals  play  a  part  in  it  or  not  : 
for  the  worst  is  that  they  sometimes  do  so.  Thus  the 
birds  represented  in  the  QiU-jdtalta  (pi.  XXXVI,  2),  or  on 
such  and  such  a  scene  from  the  MAndhdtravaddna  (no.  10), 
form  an  integral  part  of  the  story,  whilst  those  which  fly 
away  with  Manohara  (pi.  XXXIV,  2)  are  pure  decoration. 
Finally,  we  must  not  forget  that  the  artists  of  Boro-Budur 
did  not  in  any  way  forbid  themselves  the  use  of  the  ancient 
expedients  of  the  Indian  school,  juxtaposition  of  two  or 
three  distinct  episodes  and  repetition  of  a  person  in  the 
same  picture.  Thus  it  may  happen  —  and  on  this  point  the 
reading  of  Leemans'  descriptions  is  particularly  edifying  — 
that  in  the  midst  of  such  confused  masses  we  fail  to  fix 
upon  the  sole  actors,  or  objects,  whose  presence  is  of  real 
importance  for  the  concatenation  of  the  facts. 

But  the  chief  and  most  evident  fault  of  these  bas-reliefs 
is  the  persistent  incapacity  of  their  authors,  in  spite  of 
their  manual  skill,  to  create  figures  having  a  characteristic 
individuality.  Assuredly,  it  would  be  unfair  to  regard  it  as 
a  crime  on  the  part  of  the  artists  of  those  distant  isles  not 
to  have  reached  a  pinnacle  of  art  which  remained  unknown 
to  the  Indian  school  and  to  which  Greek  art  itself  attained 
only  atits  best  period. Butthefactis  patent.  They  arecapable 
of  representing  types,  but  not  individuals.  They  possess  a 
model  of  a  king,  which  serves  without  distinction  for 
gods,  as  does  that  of  the  queen  for  goddesses;  a  model  of 
a  monk,  which,  with  the  exception  of  the  coiffure,  is 
equally  suitable  for  Buddhas ;  a  model  of  a  courtier,  an 


2  52  BUDDHIST  ART  tN  JAVA 

anchorite,    a  Brahman,  a  warrior,  etc.  This  stock  figure 
is  used  by  them  on  all  occasions.  According  to  the  circum- 
stances it  is  capable,  by  the  play  of  gesture  and  even  by 
facial  features,  of  expressing  different  states  of   mind  : 
it  is  incapable  of  assuming  a  physiognomy  distinguishing 
it  from  its  congeners.  Thus  it  is  that,  for  example,  in  the 
same  legend  we  have  seen  the  same  princely  personage 
called  here  Dhana,  Sudhana,  or  Druma,  there  Rudrayaria, 
Bimbisara,   or  Qlikhandin.  At  a  distance   of  five  panels 
(cf.  pU.  XXXVII,  2  and  XXXIX,  3)  a  king  and  a  monk  are 
similarly  engaged  in  conversation  with  each  other  :  no- 
thing warns  us  that  in  the  interval  they  have  both  changedT^ 
their  personalities.  It  would  not  appear  that  in  ancient 
times  the  pilgrim  who  made  the  pradakshind  of  these  galleries 
was  able  without  the  oral  commentary  of  some  monkish 
cicerone  to  ascribe  different  names  to  figures  so  similar  : 
still  less  can  we,  now  that  the  local  tradition  is  completely 
extinct,  dispense  with   a  written  commentary.  We  may 
affirm  that  we  shall  succeed  in  identifying  on  the  walls  of 
Boro-Budur   only   those   bas-reliefs   of  which  we   have 
somewhere  read  the  legend  :  and,  again,  the  example  of 
the  Sudhanakumdrdvaddna  proves  that  we  must  have  read  it 
in  the  same  work  as  had  the  sculptor. 

This  bookish  character  of  the  sculptures  of  Boro-Budur 
is  from  the  philological  point  of  view  the  most  curious 
conclusion  to  which  we  are  led  by  our  rapid  inquiry  direc- 
ted to  the  particular  point  of  view  of  their  identification.  If 
these  bas-rehefs  cannot  be  understood  except  by  a  constant 
comparison  with  the  texts,  it  is  because  they  were  com- 
posed after  the  texts  and  to  serve  as  illustrations  thereto. 
Through  the  lithographic  reproductions  the  manner  in 
which  the  Javanese  artists  treated  the  last  life  of  Buddha 
had  already  given  us  an  inkling  of  this  :  the  direct  study 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  253 

of  the  originals  and  the  review  of  the  neighbouring  series 
only  confirm  us  in  this  opinion  (').  It  follows  that  these 
sculptures  not  only  give  us  information  on  many  concrete 
details  of  contemporary  Javanese  life  and  civilization  :  they 
also  reveal   to  us  which  version  of  the   Buddhist  writ- 
ings was  most  readily  used  in  Java  at  that  time.  Thus  we 
know  already  from  the  manner  in  which  the  artist  illustra- 
ted the  legend  of  Prince  Sudhana,  that  he  followed  the 
Sanskrit  text  preserved  by  the  Divydvaddna,  and  not  the 
Prakrit  version  of  the  Mahdvastu.  The  three  other  certainly 
identified  avaddnas,  those  of  Mandhatar,  Rudrayana,  and 
Maitrakanyaka,  Hkewise  attest  the  current  custom  of  draw- 
ing from  this  canonical  fund  of  which  the  Divydvaddna  is 
a  kind  of  anthology.  Now  the  independent  researches  of 
MM.  Ed.  Huber  and  Sylvain  L^vi  have  shown  simultane- 
ously that  this  last  collection  is,  for  the  most  part,  taken 
from  the  Vinaya-pitaka  of  the  Mula-Sarvastivadins ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  Chinese  tell  us  that  the  Lalita-vistara, 
which  is  followed  page  after  page  by  the  bas-reliefs  of  the 
upper  row,  belongs  to  the  same  school  Q.  The  study  of 
the  sculptures  of  Boro-Budur  authorizes,  therefore,  the 
supposition  that  the  canon  of  the  Mula-Sarvastivadins  was 
that  best  known  in  Java.  Perhaps  this  preference  was  due  to 
the  prestige  of  the  Sanskrit,  in  which  it  was  edited,  and 
to  what  may  be  called  its  higher  «  exportation  value  », 
as  compared  with  the  Prakrit  of  the  Mahasahghikas,  or 
the  Pali  of  the  Sthaviras.  However  this  may  be,  the  hypo- 
thesis is  clearly  confirmed   by  the  categorical   informa- 
tion furnished  by  the  Chinese  traveller  Yi-tsing;  in  his 
time,  he  tells  us,  —  towards  the  year  700  of  our  era,  that  is 


(i)  Art  greco-bouddhique  du  Gandhara,  vol.  I,  p.  617. 
(2)  Cf.  Ed.  Huber,  B.  £.  F.  E.-0.,VI,  1906  and  S.  Lfivi,  Toungpao,  series 
II,  vol.  VIII,  no.  I ;  Beal,  Romantic  Legend,  pp.  386-7. 

20 


254  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

to  say,  scarcely  a  century  before  the  foundation  of  Boro- 
Budur,  —  «  in  the  Islands  of  the  Southern  Sea  the  Mula- 
Sarvdstivddanikdya  hiis  been  almost  universally  adopted  (')  ». 
This  agreement  in  the  evidences  deserves  to  be  noticed.  All 
taken  into  account,  it  does  not  impair  the  interest  of  our 
bas-reUefs.  Assuredly,  in  spite  of  the  talent  of  their  authors, 
they  were  condemned  beforehand  to  lack  that  indefinable 
spontaneity  and  animation  which  can  be  communicated  to 
the  work  of  the  artist  only  by  labour  in  communion  with 
a  still  living  oral  tradition.  The  sculptors  of  Boro-Budur, 
in  the  effort  to  revive  an  inspiration  at  times  languishing, 
have  had  to  be  content  with  dipping  into  foreign  and 
already  ancient  texts  :  but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  have 
the  merit  of  having  suppHed  us  with  several  series  of  illus- 
trations for  authentic  fragments  of  the  sacred  scriptures 
of  Buddhism,  treated  with  a  technical  skill  which  would 
deserve  to  be  studied  in  detail  by  those  whose  metier  it  is. 
If  our  conclusions  run  the  risk  of  somewhat  lessening  the 
sesthetic  value  of  their  works,  the  documentary  interest 
emerges,  by  way  of  compensation,  considerably  increased. 

in 

Buddhist  Iconography  in  Java. 

Boro-Budur.  —  We  shall  not  undertake  a  detailed  review 
of  the  bas-reUefs  deployed  along  the  upper  galleries  of  the 
stupa.  We  restrict  ourselves  to  noticing  that,  as  we  mount, 
they  assume  a  character  more  and  more  iconographic,  less 
and  less  «  narrative  »,  and  that  the  edifying  story  finally 

(i)  I-TsiNG,  A  record  of  the  Buddhist  Religion,  trans.  Takakoso,  p.  lo.  Lit. 
«  there  is  almost  only  one...)). 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  255 

gives  way  to  the  image  of  piety  Q.  Buddha,  monks, 
nuns,  Bodhisattvas  of  both  sexes  file  past  in  twenties,  at 
times  seated  under  trees  more  or  less  stereotyped,  most 
often  installed  undertheopen  porches  oftemples,  just  as  they 
are  seen  on  the  miniatures,  or  the  clay  seals,  of  India  (')• 
The  sculptors  weary  so  much  the  less  of  all  these  repeti- 
tions as  each  one  of  them  represents  so  much  progress  in 
covering  the  considerable  surface  which  it  was  their  task 
to  decorate.  There  would  be  no  advantage  in  noting  here 
and  there  in  passing  a  few  specially  characteristic  figures, 
such  as,  in  the  second  gallery,  some  Avalokite^varas  with 
four  or  six  arms,  and  a  Maujugri  carrying  the  Indian  book 
(pustakd)  on  the  blue  lotus  (iitpala) ;  or  again,  in  the  third 
gallery,  a  group  composed  of  a  Buddha  between  these 
same  two  Bodhisattvas,  etc.  The  problem  is  much  more 
vast,  and  demands  a  solution  of  very  different  amplitude. 
It  would  be  necessary  to  make  a  census  of  all  these  images 
and  each  of  their  varieties,  to  draw  up  an  exact  and  com- 
plete table  of  them,  and  to  study  attentively  their  graphic 
distribution ;  then  only,  after  having  allowed  for  the  necess- 
ities of  decoration  and  having  among  this  crowd  of  idols 
discerned  the  really  essential  types,  we  might  attempt  the 
identification  of  what  for  the  artists  of  Java  constituted  the 
Buddhist   pantheon.   We  must  hope  that   some  Dutch 
archaeologist  will  find  time  to  undertake  this  deUcate  and 
extensive  task;  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  it  is  forbidden 
to  a  simple  visitor. 

Neither  shall  we  dwell  upon  the  hundreds  of  statues 
which  decorate  this  siupa  of  the  «  Many  Buddhas  »  (for 
such  would  be  the  meaning  of  the  word  Boro-Budur)  ^  but 


(i)  But  see,  supra,  the  identification  ofoneof  the  bas-reliefs  of  the  upper 
gallery,  pp.  165-6  and  pi.  XXII  (Great  Miracle  of  ^rivasti). 
(2)  Cf.  Elude  sur  Viconogr.  bouddhique  de  I'lnde,  I,  1900,  pp,  45-6. 


256  BtJt)t)EtlSt  ARt  In  JAVA 

here  the  reason  for  our  abstention  is  quite  diflferent.  They 
were,  in  fact,  classified  long  ago,  and  W.  de  Humboldt 
proposed  to  recognize  among  them,  in  accordance  with 
Hodgson's  Nepalese  drawings,  the  images  of  the  five 
Dhyani-Buddhas.  The  identification  has  since  been  gener- 
ally admitted,  and  in  principle  we  see  no  reason  for  con- 
testing it :  at  the  most  it  would  need  to  be  pressed  fur- 
ther and  completed.  The  arrangement  of  the  groups  must 
in  any  case  be  remade.  Among  these  manifold  repHcas 
with  heads  generally  well  treated  and  expressive,  but 
effeminate  and  bloated  bodies,  all  seated  in  padmdsana  and 
only  differentiated  by  the  gestures  of  the  hands,  we  must, 
in  fact,  distinguish  : 

1 .  in  the  four  first  rows  of  niches  (in  the  proportion  of 
92  to  each  facade),  to  the  east,  those  in  bhumispar(a-mu- 
drd  (') ; 

2 .  at  the  south,  those  in  vara-mudrd ; 

3 .  at  the  west,  those  in  dhydni-mudrd ; 

4.  at  the  north,  those  in  ahhaya-mudrd; 

5 .  in  the  fifth  row  of  niches,  on  the  four  facades  (viz. 
64  altogethe  r), those  in  vitarka-mudrd; 

6.  in  the  72  little  open  cupolas  of  the  three  circular 
terraces,  those  in  dharmacakra-mudrd ; 

7.  the  single  image  found  under  the  great  central 
cupola. 

Whatever  identification  may  be  proposed,  will,  it  is 
understood,  have  to  take  into  account  each  of  these  varie- 
ties, without  omission  and  without  confusion.  There- 
fore we  cannot  admit  that  of  Humboldt  (*),  which 
confuses  and  mixes  up  nos.  4  and  5.  If  we  must  identify 


(i)  For  the  mudras,  or  gestures  of  the  hands,  cf.  ibid.,  p.  68. 
(2)  Cf.  Leemans,  he.  cit.,  p.  480. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  257 

1 .  Akshobhya,  by  the  gesture  of  calling  the  earth  to  witness, 

2.  Ratnasambhava,  by  the  gesture  of  giving,  3.  Amitabha, 
by  the  gesture  of  meditation,  4.  Amoghasiddha,  by  the 
gesture  of  protection,  it  is  clear  that  in  the  last  row  of 
niches  we  must  recognize,  5.  the  fifth  Dhyani-Buddha, 
Vairocana,  by  the  gesture  of  discussion,  although  the  ges- 
ture of  teaching  is  more  usually  reserved  for  him  and 
although,  on  the  other  hand,  the  vitarka-mudrd  is  scarcely 
distinguished  from  the  abhaya-mudrd  by  the  fact  that  in  it 
the  index-finger  is  joined  to  the  thumb.  It  follows  likewise 
that  with  the  five  rows  ofniches  belonging  to  the  polygon- 
al galleries  we  have,  as  was  natural,  exhausted  the  list  of 
the  five  Dhyani-Buddhas. 

6.  The  72  images  of  the  circular  terraces  would  then 
all  be  consecrated  to  the  historic  Buddha,  Qakya-muni,  and 
would  exhibit  him  teaching. 

7.  As  for  the  purposely  unfinished  statue  which  was 
discovered  under  the  great  central  cupola,  it  has  been  the 
subject  of  many  hypotheses.  Dr.  Pleyte  regards  it  as  the 
last  enigma  of  Boro-Budur  :  <c  The  great  Dagaba  »,  he 
says  Q,  «  was  formerly  without  any  opening;  but  at  pre- 
sent one  can  have  access  right  into  the  interior,  part  of 
the  wall  having  been  removed.  The  removal  brought  to 
light  a  hidden  image  of  Buddha,  which  represents  him 
seated  in  hhumisparQa-mudrd.  This  image  of  Buddha  is  thus 
the  centre  of  the  sanctuary.  By  reasori  of  its  incomplete 
form  it  is  considered  by  Groeneveldt  to  be  a  representation 
of  the  Adi-Buddha.  This  would  be  a  manner  of  symboU- 
zing  the  abstract  essence  of  this  supreme  divinity  of  Maha- 
yanism.  Kern,  on  the  contrary,  recognizes  in  this  unfinish- 


(i)  C.  M.  Pleyte,  Dk  Buddhalegende  in  den  Skulpturen  des  Tempels  von 
Boro-Budur,  Amsterdam,  190 1-2,  p.  ix.  For  the  bibliography  see  ibid., 
notes  on  pages  i-in. 


258  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

ed  figure  an  embryo  Buddha  :  this  would  be  an  allusion 
to  the  Bodhisattva  in  the  womb  of  his  mother...  »  If  these 
diverse  interpretations  fail  to  satisfy  us  any  more  than 
they  did  Dr.  Pleyte,  the  short  resum^  which  he  gives  of 
them  is  at  least  sufficient  for  our  purpose.  We  do  not 
indeed  pretend  to  discuss  here  the  greater  or  less  degree 
of  probabiUty  in  these  theories.  Still  less  shall  we  stop  to 
criticize  that  of  Wilsen,  who  saw  in  this  same  statue  a  rough 
model  of  a  future  Buddha,  prepared  for  subsequent  com- 
pletion by  the  cunning  priests  (*)•  In  truth,  speculations  of 
this  kind  are  scarcely  more  susceptible  of  refutation  than 
of  proof;  and  it  is  this  which  makes  us  suspicious  of  them. 
If  we  in  our  turn  venture  a  new  hypothesis,  it  is  because 
we  should  prefer  to  seek  the  solution  of  this  problem  of 
archaeology  elsewhere  than  in  the  messianic,  symbolical 
or  theistic  conceptions  more  or  less  familiar  in  such  and 
such  forms  of  Indian  Buddhism. 

Let  us,  then,  make  a  tabula  rasa  of  all  this  metaphysics 
and  consider  again,  as  briefly  as  possible,  the  essential 
elements  of  the  question.  Under  the  central  dome  of  the 
stupa  of  Boro-Budur,  at  the  spot  where  we  should  expect 
to  find  the  usual  deposit  of  rehcs,  or  at  least  the  upper 
deposit  —  for  it  happens  sometimes  that  there  are  along  the 
perpendicular  which  joins  the  summit  to  the  base  several 
of  them,  one  above  the  other  —  was  discovered  an  image 
of  Buddha,  whose  emplacement  sufficed  to  prove  its  spe- 
cially sacred  character.  Now  this  statue  was  intentionally 
left  unfinished  :  «  The  hair,  the  ears,  the  hands  and  the 
feet  are  not  completed  »,  says  Leemans;  and  further  on  he 
adds  :  «  One  is  forced  to  admit  that  the  artist  who  made 
the  plan  of  the  whole  really  had  a  premeditated  intention 


(i)  Cf.  Leemans,  op.  cit.,  pp.  486-7. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  559 

of  leaving  the  statue  of  the  central  sanctuary  in  the  state 
in  which  we  possess  it  (*).  »  On  the  other  hand,  this 
image  shows  us  Buddha  seated,  his  legs  crossed  in  the 
Indian  manner,  the  left  hand  resting  in  his  lap,  his  right 
hand  hanging  down,  the  palm  turned  inwards  and  the 
fingers  stretched  toward  the  ground.  Before  committing 
ourselves  to  any  apocalyptical  explanation  of  this  figure 
it  is  well,  in  point  of  method,  to  ask  ourselves,  first  of  all, 
whether  the  iconography  of  India,  the  recognized  model 
for  that  of  Java,  does  not  comprise  any  type  of  Buddha 
composed  in  the  same  attitude  and  presenting  the  same 
peculiarity  of  in  completion. 

If  it  were  permissible  to  judge  by  the  facility  of  the  solu- 
tion, the  question  would  in  this  case  be  well  put :  at  least, 
in  order  to  answer,  it  is  not  necessary  to  push  far  our 
interrogation  of  the  Indian  tradition.  The  two  most  celebra- 
ted prototypes  of  the  pretended  portrait  images  of  Buddha 
are  that  of  Kau^ambi  (or  ^ravasti)  and  that  of  Mahabodhi, 
near  to  Gaya.  The  former  is  in  this  case  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. Concerning  the  second  we  possess  two  versions  of 
an  identical  legend,  the  one  reported  by  Hiuan-tsang,  the 
other  by  Taranatha  Q.  Anxious  before  all  to  guarantee  the 
authentic  resemblance  of  the  image,  they  naturally  attribute 
its  execution  to  a  supernatural  artist  :  on  two  points  they 
seem  none  the  less  in  harmony  with  historic  truth.  First 
of  all,  we  learn  from  the  texts,  in  the  most  formal  manner, 
that  the  original  work  was  regarded  —  rightly  or  wrongly, 
matters  not  - —  as  not  being  finished,  an  accident  which 
people  were  unanimous  in  explaining  as  due  to  an  unfor- 


(i)  See  the  discussion,  be.  cit.,  pp.  484-6. 

(2)  See,  for  the  first,  the  translation  of  Stan,  Julien,  II,  pp.   465  sqq., 
or  of  S.  Seal,  II,  pp.  120  sqq.;  and,   for  the  second,  the  translation  of 

SCHIEFNER,  p.  20. 


26o  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

tunate  interruption  in  the  mysterious  work  of  the  divine 
sculptor.Among  the  unfinished  parts  Taranatha  cites  espe- 
cially the  toe  of  the  right  foot  and  the  locks  of  hair.  Whilst 
these  material  details  would  be  less  easy  of  verification 
than  might  be  thought  in  the  obscurity  in  which,  asHiuan- 
tsang  tells,  the  majesty  of  the  idol  was  hidden,  there  is  some 
appearance  that  this  general  belief  in  its  state  of  incomple- 
teness was  in  one  way  or  another  well-founded.  In  the 
second  place,  and  in  any  case,  it  is  a  fact  attested  by  the 
monuments,  as  also  by  the  descriptions  of  the  texts,  that 
it  represented  Buddha  «  seated,  the  left  hand  at  rest,  and 
the  right  hanging  »,  at  the  moment  when,  disturbed  from 
his  meditations  by  the  assaults  of  Mara,  he  touched  the 
earth  with  his  fingers,  in  order  to  invoke  it  as  witness  ('). 
In  short,  the  image  of  «  Vajrasana  of  Mahabodhi  »,  to  use 
the  term  under  which  it  was  known,  made  the  gesture  of 
bhumisparfa,  and  was,  or  —  which  for  us  comes  to  the 
same  thing —  passed  for  being,  incomplete. 

We  leave  to  experts  the  task  of  concluding.  To  us  this 
double  rapprochement  appears  sufficiently  precise  to  allow 
of  our  putting  forward  the  idea  that  the  central  Buddha  of 
Boro-Budur,  incomplete  siud  in  bhumisparga-mudrd,  is,  or  at 
least  intends  to  be,  nothing  but  a  replica  of  the  statue  of 
Bodh-Gaya.  In  addition  to  its  simplicity,  the  hypothesis  has 
also  this  great  advantage,  that  it  frees  us  from  the  necess- 
ity of  attributing  exceptionally  to  the  artists  of  Java,  always 
so  respectful  towards  Indian  tradition,  the  creation  of  a  new 
model  which  India  would  not  have  known.  Finally,  if  it 
does  away  with  one  difficulty,  in  our  opinion  a  consider- 
able one,  we  do  not  think  that  it  raises  another  in  its 


(i)  The  references  are  to  be  found  in  our  Etude  sur  V Iconographie  boud- 
dhique  de  Vlnde,  I,  pp.  90-94. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  261 

place.  It  is  a  fact  historically  established  by  Chinese  evi- 
dence that  from  the  VII*  to  the  XI"'  century  of  our  era  — 
that  is,  during  the  period  covering  the  construction  of 
Boro-Budur,  which  is  attributed  to  the  second  half  of  the 
IX"'  century  —  the  «  True  Visage  of  the  Throne  of  Dia- 
mond » ,  or  «  of  Intelligence  » ,  was  the  most  venerated 
Buddhist  idol  in  India,  and  even  the  model  most  in  request 
for  exportation  0),  whilst  the  temple  of  Mahabodhi  had 
become  the  greatest  centre  of  pilgrimage.  This  would 
explain  without  effort  why  a  more  or  less  faithful  copy  of 
this  miraculous  image  should  have  been  able  to  assume  a 
character  sufficiently  sacred  to  merit  being  placed  by  the 
Javanese  architects  in  the  hollow  of  the  great  stupa  of  the 
Indian  Archipelago,  just  as  the  original  reposed  under  the 
arches  of  the  famous  sanctuary  of  Magadha. 

Such,  at  least,  is  the  hypothesis  which  we  could  not 
help  long  ago  Q  submitting  to  Indianists,  with  all  the 
respect  inspired  by  the  experience  of  our  predecessors 
and  the  reservations  imposed  by  the  necessity,  in  which 
we  still  were,  of  trusting  to  the  descriptions  of  others.  At 
the  time  of  our  visit  to  Boro-Budur  we  found  nothing 
to  add  concerning  this  statue,  inasmuch  as  it  was  still  in 
the  same  state  in  which  Dr.  Pleyte  had  seen  it,  once  again 
covered  up  to  the  neck  and  left  in  a  state  of  abandonment 
very  unworthy  of  all  the  ink  which  it  had  caused  to  flow. 
Thus  we  were  obliged  to  restrict  ourselves  to  reiterating 
the  wish  that  it  might  once  again  be  cleared  and  more 
closely  studied.  If  we  have  returned  in  some  detail  to  this 
subject,  it  is  because  in  the  interval  this  wish  has  been  ful- 
filled, and  because  the  kindness  of  Major  Van  Erp  allows 


(i)  Cf.  Ed.  Chavannes,  Les  Inscriptions  chinoises  de  Bodh-GayS-  in  Revue  de 
I'Histoire  des  Religions,  vol.  XXXIV,  i,  1896. 
(2)  B.  £.  F.  E.-O.,  Ill,  1903,  pp.  78-80,  whence  these  pages  are  taken. 


262  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

US  to  produce  at  last  a  photograph  of  this  famous  idol 
(pi.  XLIII,  i).  Perhaps  this  latter  will  be  for  the  reader  a 
disillusionment  :  in  fact  it  merely  sketches  in  a  rather 
rough  fashion  the  ordinary  type  ofBuddhas  of  Boro-Budur, 
and  it  is  quite  clear  that,  if  a  replica  of  the  image  of  Vajra- 
sana  is  really  intended,  it  was  executed  freely  and  not 
from  a  moulding.  But  upon  a  moment's  reflection  it  will 
be  seen  that  this  was  exactly  what  was  to  be  expected; 
and,  in  any  case,  it  is  well  once  for  all  to  place  before  the 
eyes  of  the  public  the  decisive  piece  of  evidence  in  a  dispute 
which  otherwise  would  run  the  risk  of  being  endless. 

The  Chandi  Mendut.  —  It  would  be  a  task  more  within  our 
reach  to  identify,  by  way  of  a  specimen,  the  images  which 
decorate  the  Chandi  Mendut.  This  edifice,  placed  in  the  axis 
of  the  oriental  gate  of,  and  at  three  kilometres  from,  Boro- 
Budur,  consists,  in  fact,  of  a  cdla  only,  with  a  vestibule  in 
front.  The  whole  is,  according  to  the  Javanese  custom, 
perched  on  a  terrace  in  the  same  manner  as  are  the  Brah- 
manic  temples  of  Parambanam.In  Buddhist  terminology  it  is 
what  is  properly  called  a  vihdra  (').  Naturally  it  shelters  sta- 
tues, and  the  walls  of  its  entrance  vestibule,  hke  the  exterior 
faces  of  the  building,  are  decorated  with  figures  whose  purely 
Buddhist  character  may  be  recognized  at  once  by  anyone 
who  is  a  little  familiar  with  the  Indian  iconography  of  this 
religion.  The  building,  fairly  well  preserved,  except  in  the 
upper  parts,  has  been  the  object  of  a  restoration  the  archi- 


(i)  We  know  that  the  meaning  of  this  term  (temple  of  divinity  or  monk's 
cell)  has  been  unduly  extended  by  European  archseologists  to  the  whole  of 
the  monastery  (Cf.  Art  g.-b.  du  Gandhara,  p.  99).  —  We  deliberately  leave 
aside  the  other  Buddhist  edifices  which  we  likewise  visited  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Jogyakarta  under  the  guidance  of  Dr.  J.  Groneman,  and  on 
which  we  may  consult  his  guide,  entitled  Boeddhistische  Tempel-en  KloosUr- 
Bouwvalknin  de  Parambanan-Vlakte,  Soerabaia,  1907. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  263 

tectural  details  of  which  we  shall  not  undertake  to  discuss. 
The  three  enormous  statues  of  the  cella  have  been  replaced 
on  their  pedestals  (').  They  are  characterized  by  a  curious 
detail.  Whereas  at  Boro-Budur,  and  even  on  the  walls  of 
the  Chandi  Mendut,  the  nimbuses  of  the  divine  personages 
retain,  as  in  Southern  India,  the  simply  oval  form,  those 
of  the  three  figures  rise  to  a  point,  like  the  leaf  of  the 
Bodhi-tree,    in  the  Sino-Japanese  fashion.  It  would  be 
interesting  to  date  as  exactly  as  possible  the  appearance  of 
this  form  in  Java.  It  would,  in  fact,  mark  with  sufficient  cer- 
tainty the  moment  when  the  two  great  currents  of  artistic 
influence,  which,  diverging  from   their  common  Indian 
source,  had  followed  respectively  the  land  routes  through 
Central  Asia  and  the  sea  route  south-eastwards,  met  again 
in  the  island  and  there,  so  to  speak,  closed  their  circuit  ('). 
The  central  statue,  about  m.  2,50  high,  cut  out  of  an 
enormous  block  of  andesite,  represents  a  Buddha  seated 
in  the  European  manner,  the  hands  joined  in  the  gesture 
of  teaching.  Not  only  the  dsana  and  the  mudrd,  but  even 
the  details  of  the  hair,  the  lotus-stool,  the  throne  with  a 
back,  etc.,  recall  in  a  striking  manner  the  images  found  at 
Sarnath,  in  the  northern  suburb  of  Benares,  on  the  tradi- 
tional site  of  the  master's  first  preaching  (cf.  Icon,  houddh., 
I,  fig.   10).  Besides,  to  cut  short  all  discussion,  the  lower 
band  of  the  pedestal  is  still  stamped  with  a  «  wheel  of  the 
law  »,  accompanied  by  the  two  characteristic  antelopes  ot 
the  Mrigadava. 

On  each  side  of  the  teaching  Qakya-muni,  on  a  throne 
having  a  back  likewise  adorned  with  superposed  animals,  a 
Bodhisattva  is  seated  in  lalitdkshepa,  the  left  leg  bent  back, 
the  right  foot  hanging  down  and  resting  on  a  lotus.  At  the 


(i)  Cf.  B.  £.  F.  E.-O.,  IX,  1909,?.  831. 


2^4  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

right  of  Buddha  Avalokitefvara  may  at  once  be  recognized, 
thanks  to  the  effigy  of  Amitabha  which  he  bears  in  his 
headdress.  As  usual,  his  right  hand  makes  the  gesture  of 
charity;  his  left  is  folded  back  in  the  position  of  discussion, 
but  without  at  the  same  time  holding  a  lotus  (cf,  ibid., 
pi,  V,  2).  His  counterpart,  with  the  palm  of  his  left  hand 
leaning  on  the  ground  and  the  right  hand  turned  back  in 
front  of  his  chest,  does  not  present  any  particular  mark 
allowing  us  to  determine  his  identity.  It  is  solely  the  tra- 
ditional force  of  custom  which  compels  us  to  attribute  to 
him  the  name  of  Mafijucri  :  the  more  so  as,  after  having 
despoiled  these  two  acolytes  of  every  characteristic  attri- 
bute, the  sculptor  must  for  a  means  of  recognition  have 
relied  upon  their  simple  presence  by  the  side  of  Buddha. 

The  walls  of  the  vestibule  bear  on  the  right  and  left,  in 
panels  of  about  m.  1,90  X  m.  i,  figures  of  the  genius  of 
wealth  and  his  wife  Hariti,  which  have  already  been  publish- 
ed by  Dr.  J.  Ph.  Vogel  (').  We  shall  not  insist  further  upon 
them.  Of  the  principal  facade  of  the  temple  — exceptionally 
oriented  towards  the  north-west  instead  of  to  the  east  — 
only  the  wall  to  the  left  of  the  entrance  is  preserved ;  it 
bears  a  standing  Bodhisattva,  holding  a  lotus  surmounted 
by  a  stupa  :  it  seems  that  we  must  by  this  sign  recognize 
Maitreya  (cf.  ibid.,  pp.  112-3). 

If  we  now  commence  on  the  terrace  the  pradakshind  of 
the  monument,  we  come  first  to  the  north-eastern  facade.  In 
the  middle  of  the  central  panel,  framed  by  pilasters  bearing 
atlantes  in  their  capitals,  we  see,  seated  on  a  throne  covered 
with  a  lotus  and  under  a  stereotyped  tree,  a  feminine  divin- 
ity with  eight  arms.  Unfortunately  the  head  is  broken; 
but  it  seems,  in  fact,  that  it  had  only  one  face;  and  this 

(i)  B.  £.  F.  E.-O.,  IV  (1904),  pp.  727-730  :   ct.  above,  p.  141   and 
below,  pi.  XLVIII,  2. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  265 

suffices  to  put  aside  the  identification  with  the  Vajra-Tara 
with  four  faces  (ibid.,  II,  1905,  p.  70)  in  favour  of  Cunda 
(ibid.,  I,  p.  146  and  pi.  VIII,  4).  Her  right  arms  do  hold 
the  shell,  the  thunderbolt,  the  disc,  and  the  rosary.  Of  her 
left  arms,  the  first  from  the  top  is  broken;  the  three  others 
carry  an  elephant's  hook  (ankugd),  an  arrow,  and  some 
object  which  we  could  not  distinguish.  On  either  side 
stands  a  Bodhisattva  holding  a  flyflap  :  the  one  on  the  right 
has  further  the  pink  lotus  of  Avalokite^vara,  the  one  on  the 
left  the  blue  lotus  of  Manju^ri.  Finally,  on  the  two  lateral 
panels,  the  same  standing  Bodhisattva,  his  right  hand  in 
the  varamudrd,  bears  a  flower  quite  analogous  to  the  ndga- 
pushpa  of  Maitreya  (ibid.,  I,  fig.  14). 

On  the  next  facade  the  central  figure  is  an  Avalokite- 
cvara  with  four  arms(i^R,  I,  p.  104,  etc.).  One  of  its  right 
arms,  which  is  broken,  must  have  been  lowered  in  the 
gesture  of  giving,  whilst  the  other  holds  up  a  rosary.  A 
pink  lotus  and  a  book  adorn  the  left  hands ;  the  flagon  of 
ambrosia  rests  upon  another  lotus  on  the  same  side.  Two 
feminine  attendants,  doubtless  forms  of  Tara,  worship 
him.  In  the  Bodhisattvas  figured  on  the  two  lateral  panels 
the  thunderbolt  with  which  both  are  armed  proclaims  Vaj- 
rapani. 

The  principal  figure  of  the  south-western,  and  last, 
facade  is  again  feminine  (pi.  XLIV).  She  is  seated  in  the 
Indian  manner  upon  a  lotus  supported  by  two  ndgas.  The 
two  attributes  of  the  upper  pair  of  hands,  on  the  right  the 
rosary  and  on  the  left  the  book^should  indicate  the  Prajna- 
paramitawith  four  arms  (ibid.,  pi.  IX,  3  and  4).  But  in  that 
case  the  normal  hands  should  make  the  gesture  of  teaching, 
instead  of  that  of  meditation.  Similarly,  if  she  were  a 
four-armed  Tara,  the  first  right  hand  should  make  the  ges- 
ture of  charity  (ibid.,  II,  p.  63).  The  symbols  and  the  alti- 


266  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

tudes  combine,  therefore,  to  indicate  a  second  representa- 
tion of  the  goddess  Cunda,  the  form  with  four  arms  (ibid., 
pi.  VIII,  3  and  figure  24).  The  two  Bodhisattvas,  her  attend- 
ants, reproduce  exactly  those  of  her  counterpart  on  the 
opposite  facade.  As  regards  those  of  the  lateral  panels,  the)^ 
carry  on  blue  lotuses  a  sword  and  a  book  respectively  : 
we  must,  therefore,  see  in  them  two  replicas  of  the  same 
Maiiju^ri,  of  whom  these  are  the  two  traditional  emblems 
(ibid.,  p.  119). 

To  sum  up  :  in  the  personages  who  decorate  the  exte- 
rior of  the  three  unpierced  faces  of  the  temple  of  Men- 
dut  we  propose  at  first  sight  to  recognize,  in  the  middle, 
two  images  of  Cunda  with  four  and  eight  arms,  and  one 
of  Avalokitefvara  with  four  arms;  on  the  sides,  two  repli- 
cas each  ofMaitreya,  Vajrapaniand  Manjugri :  all  being  im- 
portant figures  of  the  Buddhist  pantheon.  But,  naturally, 
this  preUminary  review  would  have  to  be  severely  tested. 
It  would  be  necessary,  in  particular,  to  examine  these  bas- 
rehefs  more  closely  with  the  help  of  ladders  or  a  hanging 
stage,  so  that  no  detail  could  escape;  and,  this  minute 
labour  accomphshed,  it  would  still  be  necessary  to  verify 
by  comparison  with  other  Buddhist  statues  of  Javanese 
origin  whether  there  is  not  occasion  to  modify  in  some 
measure,  for  local  reasons,  the  Indian  attribution  of  these 
images.  At  that  cost  only  could  these  too  rapid  identifica- 
tions become  reasonably  certain. 

The  Museum  of  Batavia.  —  We  have  just  spoken  of  a 
kind  of  general  confrontation  of  the  Buddhist  statues  of 
Java.  The  material  would  not  be  lacking,  in  spite  of  the 
relatively  restricted  number  of  Buddhist  monuments  in 
the  island.  Many  of  them  have  already  been  brought 
together,  both  in  a  building  near  to  the  residency  of  Jogya- 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  267 

karta  and  in  the  museum  of  the  Asiatic  Society  of  Batavia. 
Of  the  first  collection  a  catalogue  has  been  published  by 
Dr.  Groneman.  The  most  interesting  objects  to  be  men- 
tioned in  the  second  are  some  inscribed  images  of  the 
Dhyani-Buddhas  Akshobhya(no.  224)andRatnasambhava 
(no.  225),  of  the  gakti  Locana  (no.  248"),  of  Tara  in  the 
form  of  Bhrikuti  (no.  112"),  of  Hayagriva  (no.  76"),  etc. 
Every  one  will  appreciate  the  interest  of  these  names  (*), 
taken  at  hasard  from  our  notes  on  the  lapidary  museum. 

We  must  likewise  mention  as  belonging  to  the  museum 
of  the  capital  a  considerable  collection  of  small  figures  of 
more  or  less  precious  metals  (gold,  silver,  or  bronze), 
which  are  for  the  most  part  already  classed  Q).  Let  us  cite 
among  others  some  very  artistic  statuettes  of  Avaloki- 
tefvara,  Vajrasattva,  Kuvera,  Tara,  Marici,  etc.  All  have 
this  in  common,  that  they  are  remarkably  faithful  to  their 
Indian  models. 

There  is  one  at  which  it  is  perhaps  worth  while  to  stop 
for  a  moment,  because  of  the  rarety  of  the  type  in  India 
and  the  success  which  it  has  had  in  the  Far  East.  We  have 
already  had  to  occupy  ourselves  with  the  sole  example  pre- 
served by  chance  at  Bodh-Gaya.  Now  Dr.  Pleyte  —  and 
we  apologize  for  not  having  known  this  reference  at  the 
time  —  had  for  his  part  pubhshed  three  Javanese  repli- 
cas (^),  one  of  which  is  now  in  London,  another  at  Lei- 


(i)  Several  of  these  statues  have  already  been  published  by  the  late 
J.  L.  A.  Brandes,  Beschrifving  van  de  mine...  Tjandi  Djago,  The  Hague  and 
Batavia,  1904. 

(2)  For  access  to  this  collection  we  are  indebted  to  the  kindness  of 
Dr.  C.  M.  Pleyte,  who  was  so  good  as  to  take  the  trouble  of  opening  the 
glass-cases  for  us. 

(3)  Cf.  Bijdragen  tot  dc  Tad-,  Land-  en  Volkenkunde  van  Ned.-Ind.,  Zesde 
Volgreeks,  Tiende  Deel,  afl.  i  and  2,  pp.  195-202,  and  our  £t.  sur  I'Icon. 
houddh.  de  I'lnde,  IIj  1905,  fig.  4- 


268  BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA 

den,  and  the  third  at  Batavia  (pi.  XLIII,  2).  He  had  likewise 
the  merit  of  discovering  in  Schiefner  Q  a  legend  which 
explained  the  bellicose  pose  of  this  divinity,  whose  left 
foot  treads  upon  the  face  of  a  man,  and  his  right  upon  the 
bosom  of  a  woman.  This  would  be  a  mode  of  deciding, 
with  no  possible  equivocation,  the  question  of  the  supre- 
macy of  a  simple  Buddhist  «  guardian  of  the  law  »  over 
the  great  god  of  the  Brahmans.  ^iva  had  the  imprudence 
to  refuse  obedience  to  Vajrapani  under  the  pretence  that 
the  latter  was  only  a  yaksha  :  contemplate  for  your  own 
edification  the  punishment  of  his  crime.  We  in  our  turn 
may  note  that  on  this  point  the  descriptions  of  the  sddhanas, 
or  magic  charms,  confirm  the  Tibetan  tradition  by  Hkewise 
giving  to  the  persons  overthrown  the  names  of  Mahe- 
fvara  and  his  wife  Gauri  :  while  for  the  genius,  instead 
of  making  of  him  simply  a  furious  transformation  of 
Vajrapaiii,  they  use  the  more  precise  appellation  of  Trailo- 
kyavijaya.  Let  us  add  that  this  last  reappears  among  the 
divinities  of  the  Japanese  pantheon  under  the  vulgar  desig- 
nation of  Gosanze.  His  pose  has  notchanged,  nor  his  double, 
living  pedestal ;  and,  if  he  has  no  longer  more  than  one 
pair  of  arms,  his  hands,  at  least,  continue  to  execute  the 
vajrahutnkdra-mudrd  characteristic  of  his  anger  and  com- 
mon to  all  his  representations  Q.  On  the  Javanese  sta- 
tuette we  find  again  the  four  visages  which  the  Sanskrit 
manuscripts  and  the  stele  of  Magadha  ascribe  to  him,  and 
even  the  eight  attributes   (sword,  disc,  arrow  and  bell, 


(i)  A.  Schiefner,  Eine  tibetische  Lebensbeschreibung  Qakyamuni's,  p.  244. 

(2)  Cf,  J.  Hoffman,  Pantheon  von  Nippon  (vol.  V,  of  the  Beschreibun<r 
von  Japan  of  Von  Siebold),  p.  75  and  pi.  XIX,  fig.  164;  and  Si-do-in-diou 
{Ann.duMusuGuimet,  Bibl.  d'etudes,  vol.  VIII,  Paris,  1899),  pp.  100- 
loi  and  pi.  XII. 


BUDDHIST  ART  IN  JAVA  269 

thunderbolt,  elephant's  goad,  lasso  and  bow)  which  they 
agree  in  placing  in  his  eight  hands. 

Any  special  inquiry  would  lead  us,  we  believe,  to  this 
double  conclusion  :  on  the  one  hand,  the  close  fihation  of 
the  Javanese  Buddhist  images  in  relation  to  their  Indian  pro- 
totypes, and,  on  the  other  hand,  their  more  or  less  distant 
kinship  with  the  Tibetan,  Chinese,  or  Japanese  idols,  deri- 
ved from  the  same  origin.  If  no  profound  divergence  from 
the  composition  or  style  of  the  common  models  seems  to 
guarantee  to  this  province  of  Buddhist  iconography  any 
great  originality,  its  interest,  on  the  other  hand,  promises  to 
extend  far  beyond  the  local  horizon.  It  is  important  for  the 
general  advancement  of  Asiatic  studies  that  it  should  at 
last  form  as  a  whole  the  subject  of  some  pubhcation.  Not 
only  would  the  harvest  be  abundant,  but  we  have  carried 
away  the  impression  that  it  is  ripe  and  ready  to  be  gather- 
ed. It  is  much  to  be  desired  that  the  enlightened  govern  - 
ment  of  the  rich  colony  should  provide  some  Dutch  savant 
with  the  necessary  leisure. 

[Note  additional  to  note  i  on  p.  214  :  Upon  reperusing  M.  August  Earth's 
Bulletins  des  Religions  de  I'Inde  ( Rev.  de  VHist.  des  Religions,  t.  XLV, 
1902,  p.  354  n.  I,  or  vol.  II,  p.  442  n.  i,  of  the  edition  of  his  CEuvres)  we 
see  that  the  identification  suggested  above  for  the  bas-relief  no.  14  ot 
Dr.  Pleyte's  publication  has  been  already  proposed  by  him.  He  works  out 
in  full  the  same  interpretation  :  «  That  the  maternal  womb,  the  scene  of 
the  central  incident,  has  been  omitted,  is  entirely  in  conformity  with  the 
conventions  of  this  art...  »  We  are  doubly  fortunate  in  finding  ourselves 
ex  post  facto  at  one  with  him  and  in  rendering  to  him  the  priority  as  regards 
the  identification.] 


21 


PLATE  XXXI 

Cf.  pp.  206-7,  213-5. 


I.  —  View  of  Boro-Budur  as  it  slill  appeared  in  1907;  by  the  care  of 
Major  Van  Erp  the  stone  seat  contrived  on  the  summit  with  a  vitw  to 
the  more  comfortable  contemplation  of  the  magnificent  scenery  has 
since  been  removed,  and  the  original  lines  of  the  top  cupola  have 
been  partly  restored.  (Cf.  pp.  206-7.) 

II.  —  Our  photograph  represents  the  central  part  of  the  first  gallery 
on  the  western  face,  at  the  point  where  it  is  crossed  by  the  western 

staircase. 

On  the  light,  at  the  top,  we  distinguish  in  the  upper  row  of  the 
bas-reliefs  the  two  last  of  the  Bodhisattva's  four  promenades,  nam.ely, 
the  rencontre  with  the  dead  man  and  wiih  the  monk.  The  correspond- 
ing bas-reliefs  of  the  lower  row  have  not  yet  been  explained.  On 
ihe  other  hand,  from  the  place  where  the  view  is  taken,  we  cannot 
see  the  two  rows  of  sculptures  which  correspondingly  decorate  the 
moulded  parapet  to  the  left.  (Cf.  pp.  213-5.) 


BUDDHIST   ARCHAEOLOGY    IN   JAVA 


PL.   XXXI 


BORO-BUDUR  :    GENERAL    VIEW 

(FROM    THE    NORTHVVtIST) 


BORO-BUDUR  :    FIRST    GALLERY 

(PART   OF    WEST    FAgADE) 


PLATE  XXXII 

„  a  Cf  pp.  209  1 1 , 


The  three  following  drawings  (section,  plan  and  outline  of  Boro- 
Budur)  have  been  obligingly  communicated  by  Major  Van  Erp,  and 
they  present  in  consequence  every  guarantee  of  accuracy. 

I.  —  The  present  elevation  replaces  that  published  in  the  B.  E. . 
F.  E.  O.,  1909,  fig.  3  (cf.  ibid.,  p.  831),  which,  not  being  a  normal 
section,  had  led  us  into  error.  The  curve  a  b  follows  the  original  line 
of  the  sttlpa ;  the  whole  portion  situated  to  the  right  of  the  point  b  and 
marked  by  divergent  hatchings  represents  the  terrace  subsequently 
added,  under  which  is  at  present  buried  the  ancient  base  with  its  deco- 
ration already  half  accomplished.  (Cf.  pp.  208  n.  i  and  210.) 

II.  —  The  plan  corresponds  exactly  in  dimensions  with  the  eleva- 
tion placed  above.  Just  as  the  elevation  shows  the  arrangement  of  the 
decorative  architectural  elements,  niches  and  cupolas,  so  the  plan 
enables  us  to  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  distribution  of  the  galleries,  both 
polygonal  and  circular,  of  the  staircases,  and  of  the  gargoyles  for  car- 
rying off  the  rain  water.  (Cf.  p.  211 .) 


BUDDHIST  ARCHEOLOGY  IN  JAVA 


PL.  XXXII 


BORO-BUDUR  :   SECTION  AND  PLAN 


PLATE  XXXIII 

Cf.  pp.  209,  211. 


Plates  XXXIV-XLII  are  reproductions  of  photographs  taken  by  the 
author  from  the  bas-reUefs,  in  the  state  in  which  they  were  in  May 
1907,  with  the  lichens  which  in  places  were  eating  them  away  (cf. 
pU.  XXXV,  2;  XXXVI;  XXXIX,  0,  and  their  stones  sometimes 
disjointed  (cf.  pll.  XXXVIII  and  XLII,  2). 

I.  —  This  plate  and  the  following  belong  to  the  story  of  prince 
Sudhana.  For  the  description  cf.  p.  218.  On  the  left  will  be  observed 
the  characteristic  type  of  the  Brahman,  with  his  beard  and  large  chignon. 

II.  —  Upper  scene.  Qvetaketu,  half  recumbent  on  his  throne  in  his 
celestial  palace  amid  the  paradise  of  the  Tushitas,  pays  (not,  it  seems, 
without  a  certain  melancholy)  his  adieux  to  his  heavenly  companions. 
The  latter,  ranged  on  each  side  of  him,  manifest,  on  their  part,  dis- 
creet signs  of  affectionate  regret  for  the  imminent  departure  of  the 
future  Q^kya-muni. 

Lower  scene.  Cf.  p.  220.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  flight  of  Mano- 
hari  is  the  only  movement  in  the  slightest  degree  violent  that  we  shall 
have  to  encounter  in  the  whole  series  of  these  bas-reliefs  (cf.,  however, 
further  pi.  XXXVI,  i,  lower  scene).  Scarcely  do  guards  and  cour- 
tiers allow  themselves  to  betray  at  the  sight  of  her  a  gesture  of 
surprise.  The  birds  figured  on  her  left  have  no  other  object  —  if  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  ascribe  one  to  them  (cf.  p.  251)  —  than  to 
emphasize  the  aerial  character  of  her  flight. 


BAS-RELIEFS   OF   BOROBUDUR,    JAVA 


PL.   XXXIV 


1.  -  STORY  OF  SUDHANA,  No    3:  INCANTATION  AGAINST  THE  NAGA 

(CENTRAL    PORTION) 


2,    --    STORY    OF    SUDHANA,  No.  11  :    MANOHARA'S    FLIGHT 

Above  ,    THE    BODHISATTVA'S   FAREWEEL   TO    THE   GODS 


PLATE  XXXV 

Cf.  pp.  220-2. 


I.  —  upper  scene.  That  on  pi.  XXXIV,  2  (upper  scene)  the  Bodhi- 
sattva  is,  in  fact,  on  the  eve  of  his  last  re-descent  upon  our  earth, 
may  be  seen  in  this  picture,  the  next  in  the  upper  row  of  bas-reliefs. 
Seated  in  the  pose  of  meditation  under  a  much  decorated  pavilion,  which 
forms  a  kind  of  tabernacle,  he  still  floats  above  the  clouds  in  the  midst 
of  his  flying  cortege  of  divinities,  of  whom  some  are  conveying  him, 
whilst  others  wave  banners,  fans,  fly -flappers  and  parasols  as  pledges  of 
his  future  princely  dignity. 

Lower  scene.  Cf.  p.  221.  Grouped  on  the  right,  the  royal  insignia 
(parasol,  fly-flapper,  conical  fan,  and  leai  oi  sente  [alocasia  macrorrhiza 
ScHOTT.j,  the  last  «  still  used  by  the  Javanese,  says  Dr.  Groneman,  as  a 
provisional  umbrella  »),  will  naturally  reappear  in  all  the  court  pictures 
(cf.  pi.  XXXVI,  r,  lower  scene,  etc.). 

II-  —  Cf.  p.  222.  The  group  on  the  right  duly  represents  prince 
Sudhana  letting  his  ring  fall  into  the  vessel  of  one  of  the  attendants, 
who,  stooping  down,  has  just  placed  it  at  his  feet.  On  the  left  the 
spring  towards  which  walk,  or  rather  glide,  the  other  women  —  have 
you  ever  seen  the  gliding  motion  of  the  Javanese  female  dancers  ?  — 
is  depicted  as  a  kind  of  rocky  basin,  shaded  by  a  tree  and  overgrown 
with  lotuses. 


BAS  RELIEFS  OF  BOROBUDUR,  JAVA 


PL.   XXXV 


STORY    OF    SUDHANA,    No    12  :    THE   PRINCES   RETURN 

Abo\-e      THE    BODH  ISATT  V  A'S   DESCENT    UPON   EARTH 


1.   —STORY    OF   SUDHANA,   No,   16:   AT   THE   FOUNTAIN 

(niGHT-HAND   PORTION) 


PLATE  XXXVI 

Cf.  pp.  228,  230-r. 


I.  —  upper  scene.  Prince  Siddhirtha,  languidly  ensconced  upon  his 
throne,  offers  his  own  ring,  as  a  token  of  betrothal,  to  Gopi  or  Yagod^, 
who  is  kneeling  with  clasped  hands  at  his  feet.  On  the  left  presses  the 
crowd  of  maidens  disdained  for  her  sake;  on  the  right  the  emissaries 
of  the  king  with  visible  satisfaction  discover,  and  discuss  among  them- 
selves, the  significant  attitude  of  the  prince,  whose  heart,  to  the  great 
despair  of  his  father,  had  until  then  remained  proof  against  love. 

Lower  scene.  Cf.  p.  228,  On  the  right,  King  Mindhitar,  flanked  by 
his  court,  witnesses  the  scene  from  his  palace  :  pieces  of  woven  stuff 
fall  from  the  clouds,  naturally  in  the  same  long,  rectangular  shape 
which  they  would  have  when  issuing  from  the  loom.  Among  the 
people  some  catch  them  in  their  flight,  others  commence  to  drape 
themselves  with  them,  whilst  others  providently  make  veritable 
bundles  of  them. 

II.  —  Upper  scene.  Prince  Siddhirtha,  preceded  by  his  guard  and 
followed  by  his  court,  is  seated  under  a  parasol  on  a  four-wheeled  char- 
iot drawn  by  horses,  very  poorly  designed  (cf.  p.  251)  :  he  has  just 
met  (as  may  be  seen  on  the  left)  an  old  mendicant,  leaning  on  a  stick 
and  led  by  a  child;  and  a  propos  of  this  unexpected  rencontre  he  learns 
through  the  mouth  of  his  squire  the  existence  of  old  age.  This  is  the 
first  of  the  four  promenades  (cf.  pi.  XXXI,  2). 

Lower  scene.  Cf.  p.  230.  It  will  be  observed  that  we  do  not  see  here, 
as  in  Gandhira  and  even  at  Amaravati,an  executioner  lay  his  obedient, 
but  cruel,  hand  upon  the  Bodhisattva;  still  less  does  this  latter  appear, 
4s  in  Central  Asia,  with  his  skeleton  almost  entirely  stripped  of  flesh. 
Such  a  horrible  sight  would  jar  too  strangely  at  Boro-Budur. 


BAS-RELIEFS   OF   BOROBUDUR,   JAVA 


PL.   XXXVI 


STORY   OF   MANDH  ATAR,  No  12  ;   THE   RAIN   OF  GARMENTS 

Above      THE    BODHISATTVA    CHOOSES   HIS   BRIDE 


STORY    OF    KING   giBI,    THE    DOVE    AND    THE    HAWK 

Above  :    THE    FIRST   OF   THE    BODHISATT V A'S    FOUR    PROMENADES 


PLATE  XXXVII 

Cf.  pp.  233-4. 


Plates  XXXVII-XL  are  consecrated  to  the  story  of  Rudriyana. 

I.  —  Cf.  pp.  253-4.  Judging  by  their  head-dresses,  these  are 
Brahmans  who  have  been  charged  by  Rudriyaiia  to  bring  the  precious 
cuirass,  which  is  about  to  pass  from  their  hands  into  those  of  Bimbisara's 
courtiers.  And  it  is  clearly  a  cuirass,  without  sleeves  and  closing,  it 
seems,  in  front. 

II.  —  Upper  scene.  On  the  left  the  Bodhisattva  (already  under  the 
aspect  of  a  Buddha)  is  seated  on  a  throne  covered  with  a  lotus,  and  in 
conversation  with  his  master  Ar^da.  The  latter  exhibits  all  the  charac- 
teristic marks  of  the  Brahmanic  ascetic,  as  do  also  his  other  disciples, 
who,  in  the  midst  of  a  conventional  laadscape  of  trees  and  rocks,  which 
represents  their  hermitage,  occupy  the  rest  of  the  picture,  meditating  or 
praying,  their  rosaries  round  their  necks  or  in  their  hands. 

hmier  scene.  It  is  the  ever- recurring  court  picture  that  here  again 
appears.  We  have  remarked  (p.  234)  that  the  throne  of  the  teaching 
monk  is  higher  than  that  of  the  king,  his  disciple.  It  might  be  inter- 
esting to  refer  the  reader  to  a  rule  to  this  effect,  expHcitly  stated  in  the 
Prdtimoksha  of  the  Sarv^stivjldins,  v,  92  (Journal  ^siatique,  nov.-dec. 
19131  P-  535;  ^^-  FiNOT  and  trans.  Huber).  But,  in  fact,  this  is  the 
general  custom  in  India  :  it  is  by  an  exception,  only  explained  by  the 
prestige  of  Buddha  among  later  generations,  that  in  the  scene  above 
the  sculptor  has  assigned  to  h'm  a  seat  higher  than  that  of  his  master. 


BAS-RELIEFS   OF   BOROBUDUR,   JAVA 


PL,   XXXVII 


i*ai»ai*t«K5«!*'&iV'>S---^'y«;..  i.1 


Z^.'  l-ii;  JaSiiai*^ 


1,  •  STORY  OF  RU  DRAY  AN  A,  No  6  :  PRESENTATION  OF  THE  CUIRASS 

(LEFT-HAND    PORTION) 


STORY    OF    RUDRAYANA,    No  9  :    M AH AKATYAY ANA'S   VISIT 

Above;    THE    BODHISATTVA    WITH    HIS   FIRST    BRAHMAN   TEACHER 


PLATE  XXXVIII 
Cf.  pp.  234-5. 


I.  —  Cf.  pp.  234-5.  Note  in  the  case  of  the  Buddhist  nun  the 
complete  tonsure  of  the  head  and  the  total  absence  of  jewels,  conform- 
ably to  the  rule  of  the  monastic  order  to  which  she  belongs.  The  first 
feminine  person  seen  full-length  on  the  right  of  the  king  is,  doubtless, 
queen  Candraprabhjl. 

II.  —  Cf.  p.  23  5 .  It  is  the  latter  whom  we  find  again  in  the  following 
scene,  kneeling  on  the  ground  in  the  costume  of  a  nun.  Between  her 
and  the  bench  on  which  are  seated  the  two  bhikshunis  (whose  heads 
have  been  displaced  with  the  block  which  carried  them)  curious  utensils 
of  worship  will  be  noticed. 


RASRELIEFS   OF    HORO  BUDUR,   JAVA 


PL.   XXXVIII 


''lirlU'iiiri'i.-Vi^'r:^ 


1.   —   STORY    OF    RUDRAYANA,    No   10:    THE    NUN    QAILAS    SERMON 

(LEFT-HAND   PORTION) 


^^^^^^ 


2.  ■  STORY  OF  RUDRAYANA,  No   11  :  QUEEN  GANDRAPRABH A'S  ORDINATION 

(CCNTRAL    PORTION) 


PLATE  XXXIX 
Cf-  pp.  235-6. 


I.  —  Here  CandraprabM,  descending  again  from  heaven,  in  order 
to  keep  the  promise  which  she  had  made  to  her  husband  to  come  back 
as  a  ghost,  reappears,  quite  naturally  to  our  eyes,  in  the  costume  of 
a  goddess,  and  consequently  of  a  queen  —  that  is  lo  say,  the  same  which 
she  wore  on  plate  XXXVIII,  i.  Note  the  cracks  in  the  block  on  which 
the  king  is  carved. 

II.  —  Cf.  pp.  235-6.  The  distinction  between  the  king  and  the 
crown-prince  is  in  this  scene  especially  emphasized  by  the  fact  that 
the  father  alone  wears  the  tnukuta  or  tiara,  which  the  son,  contrary  to 
custom  (see,  for  instance,  prince  Sudhana  in  the  low.-r  scene  of 
pi.  XXXV,  2),  here  does  not  wear. 

III.  —  Cf.  p.  236  and,  for  the  sake  of  comparison,  the  right  part  of 
the  lower  scene  in  pi.  XXXVII,  2. 


BAS-RELIEFS   OF   BORO-BUDUR,   JAVA 


PL.iVXXXIX 


STORY   OF  RUDRAYANA  :   FRAGMENTS   OF  Nos.  12,  13  AND   14 


PLATE  XL 
Cf.  pp.  237-8. 


I.  —  upper  scene.  Oa  the  left  the  Bodhisattva  (in  the  form  of  a 
Buddha),  seated  ia  meditatioa  among  the  rocks  and  in  the  shades  of 
UruviM,  raises  his  right  hand  in  order  to  make  to  the  fifteen  gods  (one 
of  whom  is  broken)  ranged  on  his  left  a  polite  gesture  of  refusal.  What 
he  dedines  is  the  proposal,  which  they  have  just  made  to  him,  to  breathe 
in  through  his  pores  a  secret  vigour,  which  may  sustain  him  in  the 
midst  of  his  super-human  austerities  :  for  he  will  owe  his  salvation  to 
himself  alone.  His  well-bred  interlocutors  receive  his  decision  with  a 
demeanour  as  discreet  as  it  is  varied.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  macer- 
ations of  the  Bodhisattva  are  not  in  any  way  shown,  as  in  Gandhira, 
by  the  loss  of  flesh  on  his  body  :  so  much  realism  would  here  be 
regarded  as  the  height  of  impropriety. 

Lower  scene.  Cf.  p.  237.  It  will  be  noticed  also  in  this  connection 
that  the  sculptor  does  not  make  us  witness  the  murder  of  Rudriyatia 
(cf.  p.  249,  n.  i).  It  may  be  curious  to  observe  the  existence  in  the 
Mus6e  Guimet  of  Tibetan  paintings  whose  authors  have  not  troubled 
themselves  with  so  much  dehcacy  :  for  there  is  more  than  one  way 
of  being  a  Buddhist,  in  life  as  well  as  in  art. 

II.  —  Cf.  p.  238.  It  will  be  observed  —  and  this  trait  curiously 
recalls  the  pleasantries  of  our  Middle  Age  concerning  the  monks  — 
that  the  Brahmans  distinguish  themselves  by  a  special  degree  of  cupidity. 


BAS-RELIEFS  OF  BORO  BUDUR,  JAVA 


PL.  XL 


1.  —  STORY  OF  RUDRAYANA.  No  16  :  AFTER  THE  PARRICIDE 

Above  :    THE    ASCETIC    BODHISATTVA    DECLINES   THE    AID   OF    THE    GODS 


2.  —  STORY   OF   RUDRAYANA,   No.  19:   THE   RAIN   OF  JEWELS 

(LEFT-HAND    PORTION) 


^'  PLATE  XLI 
Cf.  pp.  i4i-3,  245-6. 


I.  —  Cf.  pp.  240-3.  The  conventional  rocks  already  met  with  in 
plates  XXXVIII,  2  and  XLI  (upper  scene)  are  here  still  more  distinctly 
seen  :  they  are  the  same  as  at  Ajanta  and  in  Indian  miniatures  (cf.  £t. 
sur  riconogr.  bouddh.  de  I'lnde,  1,  pp.  35,  183). 

The  three  following  reproductions  belong  to  the  story  of  Mai- 
trakanyaka. 

II.  —  Cf.  pp.  245-6.  The  respect  due  to  the  mother,  as  well  as  to 
the  teacher,  is  here  also  marked  by  the  higher  seat  attributed  to  her  (cf. 
p.  220,  no.  8,  and  pi.  XXXVII,  2). 


BAS  RELIEFS  OF  BORO  BUDUR,  JAVA 


PL.   XLI 


1.  —  STORY   OF  THE   PAIR   OF   KINNARAS 

(CENTRAL    PORTIOW    OF    THK    SECOND   SCENE) 


2.  —  STORY   OF   MAITRAKANYAKA,   No    1  ;   THE   PURSE-OFFERING 

(CENTRAL    PORTION) 


PLATE  XLII 

Cf.  pp.  246-7. 


I.  ~  Here,  again,  it  would  never  be  suspected  that  Maitrakanyaka 
is  supposed  to  kick  his  mother  on  the  head  :  such  is,  however,  the 
subject  (cf.  pp.  245-6).  This  portion  of  the  wall  shows  very  serious 
cracks. 

II  —  Cf.  pp.  246  7.  The  dvdrapdla  is  to  be  compared  with  those 
who  likewise  guard  the  gates  of  the  Brahmanic  temples  of  Java.  A 
palisade  of  the  same  kind  as  thit  of  wh'ch  we  get  a  side  view  on  the 
left  IS  seen  again  from  the  front  on  pU.  XL,  r  (lower  scene)  and  XLIV. 


BAS-RELIEFS   OF   BOROBUDUR,  JAVA 


PL.   XLII 


1.  -  STORY   OF   MAITRAKANYAKA,  No,  2  :  THE   MOTHERS   SUPPLICATION 

(LEFT-HAND    PORTION) 


STORY   OF   MAITRAKANYAKA,   No.  7  :    IN   THE   INFERNO   CITY 

(RIGHT-HAND   PORTION) 


PLATE  XLIII 

Cf.  pp.  257-62,  267-9 


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BUDDHIST   ARGH.-EOLOGY    IN   JAVA 


PL.   XLIII 


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PLATE  XLIV 
Cf.  pp.  265  6. 


Photograph  by  Major  Van  Erp  ;  for  the  identification  cf.  pp.  265-6. 
On  the  plinth  stretches  the  top  of  a  palisade  of  large  wooden  stakes 
joined  by  a  thin  crossbar.  Behind  are  seen  the  waves  of  a  lotus  pond,  in 
which  are  supposed  to  grow  the  lotuses  which  support  the  three  prin- 
cipal persons.  Two  Nigas,  recognizable  by  their  serpent  head-dresses, 
hold  up  the  stem  of  the  central  lotus,  and  thus  recall  those  of  the  «  Great 
Miracle  at  gr^vasii »  (cf.  pU.  XX;  XXIII;  XXVIII,  i).  The  stereotyped 
trees  attest  a  remarkable  feeling  for  ornament.  At  the  foot  of  the  two 
lateral  ones  are  placed  treasure-vases.  The  central  tree,  surmounted  by 
a  parasol,  is  further  embellished  with  birds  and  hanging  bells,  and, 
conformably  to  tradition,  is  flanked  by  adoring  divinities,  here  enframed 
in  finely  chiselled  folds  of  cloud.  The  iconographic  motif,  carved  in 
position,  thus  extends  over  the  whole  wall  of  the  temple. 


BUDDHIST   ARCH.'EOLOGY    IN   JAVA 


PL.   XLIV 


THE   GODDESS   GUNDA   BETWEEN   TWO   BODHISATTVAS 

iON    THE    SOUTH- WESTERN    WALL   OF    THE    CH  A  N  DI  -  M  E  N  DU  T 


The  Buddhist  Madonna  0. 


The  painting  reproduced  in  colours  on  the  frontispiece  to 
this  volume  comes  from  the  ruins  of  Yar-Khoto,  at  about 
ten  kilometres  to  the  west  of  Turfan.  Discovered  on  the 
ij""  of  July  1905  in  the  course  of  the  operations  of  the 
second  German  archaeological  mission  in  this  region  of 
Chinese  Turkestan,  it  is  at  present  deposited  in  the  Royal 
Ethnographical  Museum  (Kgl.  Museum  fur  Volkerkunde) 
in  Berlin,  under  no.  T(urfan)  II,  Y,  69.  In  shape  rectangu- 
lar, it  measures  m.  0,35  by  m.  0,50,  and,  according  to 
all  probability,  was  formerly  framed  in  bands  of  woven 
material,  like  a  Japanese  kakemono.  The  sanctuary,  which 
it  had  once  adorned,  was  apparently  one  dedicated  to  Bud- 
dha :  at  least,  the  fairly  numerous  manuscripts  found  in  its 
company  retain,  under  the  diversity  of  their  Sogdian,  Tur- 
kish or  Chinese  languages  and  scripts,  the  common  charac- 
teristic of  having  a  Buddhist  purport  :  we  should  have  to 
except  only  some  Uigur  fragments,  which  would  be  Mani- 
chean.  On  the  other  hand,  the  final  disintegration  of  the 
building,  constructed  of  undressed  bricks,  could  not  be 
much  later  than  the  ninth  century  of  our  era.  Only  the 
extraordinary  dryness  of  the  climate  explains  how  a  thing 
so  perishable  should  have  succeeded  in  reaching  us,  beneath 
the  thick  accumulated  debris  of  bricks  and  dust,  in  a  state 


(i)  Extract  from  Monuments  d  memoires  publUs  par  VJcadimie  des  Inscrip- 
tions et  Belks-Lettres  (Fondation  Eugene  Piot),  vol.  XVH,  fasc.  II,  1910. 


22 


272  THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA 

of  preservation  relatively  so  satisfactory.  We  are  indebted 
to  the  kindness  of  Dr.  A.  von  Le  Coq  and  Dr.  Bode,  the 
Director-General  of  the  Royal  Museums  in  Berlin,  for  the 
opportunity  of  offering  to  the  public  a  first  acquaintance  with 
this  work,  one  of  the  most  significant,  in  our  opinion,  which 
have  issued  from  the  recent  excavations  in  Central  Asia. 


I 


The  reproduction  which  we  publish  is  sufficiently  ad- 
equate to  enable  us  to  dispense  with  anything  beyond  a 
succinct  description,  insisting  less  upon  what  is  still  to  be 
seen  at  the  first  glance  than  upon  what  only  a  close  exam- 
ination reveals.  The  principal  subject  is  a  seated  woman, 
holding  in  the  hollow  of  her  right  arm  a  child  in  swaddHng 
clothes,  to  whom  with  her  left  hand  she  presents  her  bosom. 
Her  head,  surrounded  by  atriple  circular  nimbus,  is  covered 
as  far  as  the  shoulders  by  a  veil,  embroidered  round  the 
hems  and  tied  back  with  a  ribbon.  She  is  clothed  down  to 
the  feet  in  a  tunic  with  long  sleeves,  open  at  the  breast  and 
quite  analogous  to  those  which  we  have  seen  worn  by  the 
women  of  Kashmir.  This  robe  is  strewn  with  lozenges  — 
themselves  subdivided  into  four  hke  figures,  each  marked 
by  a  red  spot  —  which  were  probably  woven  in  the  stuff; 
the  collar,  cuffs,  opening  and  hem  being  bordered  with  the 
same  embroidery  as  the  veil.  The  feet  are  shod  in  slippers 
without  heels,  depicted  in  black,  and  the  neck  is  adorned 
with  a  necklace  of  the  same  hue.  The  child  is  tightly 
swathed  up  to  the  neck,  like  a  mummy.  The  chair  on  which 
the  woman  sits,  in  a  very  awkward  position,  is  without 
arms  or  back,  but  very  massive  and  much  ornamented. 
From  the  front  we  perceive  only  two  rectangular  uprights, 


THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA  273 

fitted  between  two  frames  of  the  same  shape,  the  one 
which  rests  on  the  ground  being  a  Httle  wider  than  that 
which  serves  as  a  seat.  The  mouldings  are  repeated 
symmetrically.  Those  of  the  two  inner  crossbars  repro- 
duce the  regularly  outhned  curves  of  the  embroidery  : 
the  decoration  of  the  outer  framework  and  of  the  uprights 
introduces  halves  or  quarters  of  the  lotus  flower  into  the 
intervals  of  the  curved  undulations  or  the  angular  zigzags 
of  a  stripe. 

This  central  figure  is  surrounded  by  eight  little  attend- 
ants, four  on  each  side.  These   are  so  many  vigorous 
and  plump  little  boys.  All  wear  on  their  shaven  crowns 
tufts  of  hair  :  round  their  necks  are  necklaces  ornamented 
with    medallions,   doubtless  serving  as   amulet-bearers ; 
on   their    feet    black    shoes ;    about   their  loins   cotton 
drawers,    forming    in    front  a    little  pocket    which   is 
pierced  with  a  small  slit,  but  projecting  in  wide  pleats 
behind.  The  penetrating  eye  of  Dr.  A.  von  Le  Coq  has 
already   noticed  that  four  of  them  are  about  to  play  a 
kind  of  hockey.  The  first,  at  the  bottom  to  the  left,  is 
raising  his  two  hands,  of  which  the  right  brandishes  a 
crooked  stick,  towards  one  of  his  companions,  who  is 
perched  upon  the  stool,  as  if  to  incite  him  to  throw  the  ball 
which  he  clasps  tightly  in  his  right  hand.  The  latter  also 
holds  upright  in  his  left  hand  a  similar  bat,  and  half  turns 
towards  the  seated  woman,  as  if  she  were  watching  their 
play,  while  feeding  her  latest-born .  At  the  top,  on  the  right, 
two  other  little  boys  are  engaged  in  the  same  sport.  The 
upper  one,  who  is  squatting,  with  his  left  hand  throws 
the  ball,   which   is  indicated  in  red;  the  one  standing 
below  receives  it  with  his  bat ;  for,  before  the  canvas  was 
stretched  and  the  drawing  distorted,  his  left  arm,  which 
has  now  disappeared,  was,  doubtless,  long  enough  to 


274  f  HE  BUDDHIST  MADONl^A 

reach  and  manipulate  the  red,  bent  stick  which  is  to  be 
seen  between  the  two  partners.  Below,  a  fifth  child,  seated 
on  the  ground,  practises  playing  a  sort  of  guitar  with  four 
strings.  Still  lower,  a  sixth  is  carrying  as  well  as  he  can,  in 
a  basket  too  big  for  his  arms,  some  melons,  whole  or  in 
slices  —  those  famous  melons  of  Upper  Asia,  whose 
excellence  all  travellers  unite  in  celebrating  and  of  which 
the  scent  alone  was  sufficient  to  awaken  in  the  heart  of 
the  Great  Mogul  Baber,  even  mid  the  enchantment  of  his 
Indian  gardens,  a  homesickness  for  his  native  Ferghana. 
To  return  to  the  left  portion  of  the  plate,  above  the  two 
hockey-players  we  see  another  little  boy,  who  seems  to  be 
amusing  himself  by  trying  to  balance  on  his  head  a  two- 
handled  vase.  As  for  the  eighth  Httle  figure  in  the  top  corner, 
it  is  so  much  injured  that  we  dare  not  venture  any  conjec- 
tures concerning  its  manner  of  amusement  :  the  author 
of  the  tracing  which  accompanies  and  supphes  what  is 
missing  in  the  plate,  has  completed  the  figure,  with  infinite 
probability,  as  a  little  genius  perfectly  analogous  to  the  one 
in  the  symmetrically  opposite  corner. 

To  this  summary  description  we  are  justified  in  adding 
a  few  observations  of  a  technical  kind.  The  painting  is 
executed  on  a  piece  of  coarse  canvas,  which  had  previously 
been  covered  with  a  coating,  now  partly  vanished.  The 
features  (perhaps  first  sketched  by  the  help  of  a  pounce, 
dusted  over  a  perforated  pattern,  as  we  know  was  often 
the  custom  of  these  image-makers)  were  drawn  in  ink, 
with  great  sureness  of  hand.  If  the  sitting  posture  of  the 
woman  is  unskilfully  rendered,  we  shall  remark,  on  the 
other  hand,  an  interesting  attempt  to  make  the  lozenges 
on  the  dress  blend  with  the  movement  of  the  figure.  Then 
colours,  doubtless  water-colours,  have  been  applied  in 
broad  uniform  tints.  Here,  it  seems,  golden  yellow  was 


THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA  275 

confined  to  the  seat  and  embroideries,  while  for  the  tex- 
tures there  is  recourse  to  a  series  of  reds,  passing  from  the 
minium  of  the  dress  to  the  carmine  of  the  veil  :  all 
are  to  be  seen  again  on  the  various  bands  of  the  halo. 
Then  a  Hght  wash  in  ink,  encircUng  each  feature,  emphas- 
izes the  contours  and  hollows  out  the  folds,  whilst  a  few 
delicate  touches  here  and  there  give  the  finishing  stroke  to 
the  summary  indication  of  the  modelHng.  These  are  exactly 
the  procedures  which  are  found  to  recur  in  Sino-Japanese 
paintings,  as  also  on  Persian  miniatures.  We  know  that 
Oriental  art  has  continued  of  set  purpose  to  ignore  the 
chiaroscuro.  As  to  the  date  to  be  assigned  to  this  picture, 
it  is,  provisionally,  rather  uncertain  :  for  the  archaeology 
of  Central  Asia  has  to  be  drawn  from  the  chaos  of  its  mate- 
rials, which  for  the  most  part  are  still  unedited.  However, 
thanks  to  the  previous  excavations  of  Sir  Aurel  Stein,  we 
know  that  the  rabdb  with  four  keys,  with  which  the  child 
musician  is  playing,  the  flowers  which  the  mouldings  of 
the  seat  encircle,  the  «  wave  »  or  «  cloud  »  motif  of  the 
embroidery  were  in  use  at  Niya  and  at  Rawak  in  southern 
Turkestan  from  the  third  century  of  our  era  (*).  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  according  to  the  opinion  of  Dr.  A.  von 
Le  Coq,  the  woman's  costume,  of  a  fashion  already  Uigur 
—  not  to  mention  the  extreme  obliquity  of  the  eyes  — 
would  force  us  to  descend  at  least  as  far  as  the  beginning 
of  the  seventh. 


(i)  SeeM.  A.  Stein,  Ancient  Khotan,  pi.  LXXIII  (guitar  handle),  LXVIII 
(seat),  LXXXVIII  (waves),  LXVII(halo),  etc. ;  and  cf.  our  Art  greco-boud- 
dhique  du  Gandhdra,  figg.  162,  213,  243,  246  (encircled  flowers),  273 
(waves),  etc. 


276  THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA 


11 


So  far  we  have  restricted  ourselves  to  a  simple  statement 
of  the  facts  furnished  by  an  examination  of  the  document. 
Now  it  is  time  to  broach  the  more  deHcate  question  of  its 
interpretation.  Inevitably,  as  soon  as  we  are  confronted  by 
this  pious  design,  we  are  carried  back  in  memory  to  some 
familiar  picture  of  the  Virgin  nursing  the  Child  Jesus.  For 
this  unavoidable  rapprochement  we  see  at  least  two  rea- 
sons. Firstly,  there  are  not  so  many  ways  for  a  woman 
to  offer  her  bosom  to  her  nursling.  The  second,  more 
topical,  reason  might  chance  through  long  habituation 
not  immediately  to  occur  to  us.  We  remember  having 
heard  the  ingenuous  expression  of  it  from  the  lips  of  a 
young  Panjabi  Brahman,  who,  in  front  of  an  Italian 
chromo-lithograph  of  the  Holy  Family,  could  not  conceal 
his  astonishment  that  «  the  mother  of  the  God  of  the 
Europeans  should  not  be  dressed  after  the  manner  of  the 
Mem-Sahebs  ».  He  expected,  as  he  explained  to  us,  to  see 
on  the  head  of  Mary  a  hat  similar  to  those  worn  by 
Enghsh  ladies,  whereas,  in  fact,  her  veil  gave  her  quite  an 
Indian  appearance.  This  he  could  not  get  over...  After 
having  smiled  at  his  amazement,  we  shall  do  well  not  to 
forget  the  exact  bearings  of  his  remark.  It  is  incontestable 
that  the  artistic  tradition  of  the  veil  does  in  fact  give  an 
Asiatic  appearance  to  the  most  Gothic  of  our  Virgins,  But, 
if  our  European  images  go  more  than  half  way  to  meet 
this  (c  Notre  Dame  de  Tourfan  »  —  as  it  had  from  the 
first  (')  been  christened   —  it  is  intelligible  that  con- 


(i)  This  hypothesis  was,  indeed,  put  aside  by  Dr.  von  Le  Coq  because 
of  the  Buddhist  character  of  the  manuscripts  found  at  the  same  time  as  the 
painting  (cf.  Journ.  of  the  Roy.  As.  Soc,  1909,  p.  309). 


THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA  277 

versely  our  first  instinct  will  be  to  connect  this  latter 
with  a  Christian  prototype.  Have  not  the  excavations  in 
fact  proved  the  former  existence,  in  this  oasis  of  Turfan,  of 
Manichean  and  even  Nestorian  sects?  The  unedifying 
entourage  of  eight  urchins  would  indeed  be  ill-explained 
by  this  hypothesis ;  but,  with  a  little  good  will,  all  may 
be  arranged,  and  in  strictness  one  could  reduce  these  little 
elves  to  a  purely  decorative  role,  analogous  to  that  played 
by  their  counterparts,  the  putti,  on  the  paintings  of  the 
Catacombs.  In  short,  definitely  to  settle  the  question  of 
the  identity  of  our  figure,  we  may  imagine  that  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  confront  it  with  the  first  chance  representation, 
provided  that  it  be  somewhat  anterior,  of  the  Virgin  nurs- 
ing her  child. 

It  will  perhaps  surprise  more  than  one  reader  to  learn 
that  we  have  experienced  great  difficulty  in  laying  our 
hand  upon  such  a  representation.  It  is  not,  indeed,  that 
we  ever  thought  to  find  thereby  the  clue  to  an  enigma 
which  seems  to  us,  as  will  be  seen,  susceptible  of  a  much 
nearer  solution.  But  as  little  as  anyone  did  we  think  of 
denying  the  Christian  analogies  of  the  painting  of  Turfan, 
and  in  any  and  every  case  it  would  have  been  interesting 
to  connect  with  it  a  western  counterpart.  We  went  there- 
fore, and  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  specialists.  We  must 
confess  that  their  reply  was  not  what  we  expected.  They 
told  us,  to  begin  with,  that  the  Virgo  lactans  was  not 
shown  in  the  catacombs  of  Rome  C).  Even  in  Byzantine 
art,  with  its  well-known  horror  of  the  nude,  the  icons  of 
the  raXaxTOTpotpoOoa,  charged,  perhaps,  at  first  with  some 
indecorum,  do  not  seem  to  appear  until  very  late,  in  the 


(i)  Cf.  J.  WiLPERT,  Die  MaUreien  der  Katahomben  Roms,  1903  (not  even 
on  his  pi.  22). 


278  THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA 

XV"' century,  and  would  be  imitations  of  an  Italian  model, 
itselfof  recent  date  (').  Finally,  in  France  the  first  examples 
would  not  go  back  further  than  the  XIV"'  century,  and 
would  translate  in  our  religious  art  new  feelings  of  fami- 
liarity and  tenderness  Q.  But  even  the  best  established 
laws  must  always  have  some  exception,  and  in  the  present 
case  M.  Gabriel  Millet  has  pointed  out  to  us  at  least  two. 
The  first  is  furnished  by  the  ivory  cover  of  a  Gospel  of  Metz, 
attributed  to  the  IX"'  century  of  our  era  (pi.  XLVI,  i)  :  the 
«  Mother  of  God  »,  thus  designated  by  name  in  Byzantine 
sigla,  is  seated  on  a  raised  throne  in  the  form  of  a  coffer, 
and  offers  her  left  bosom,  over  which  she  has  modestly 
drawn  a  fold  of  her  veil,  to  a  child  entirely  swathed  in 
bands.  The  other  specimen,  recently  obtained  from  the 
excavations  of  the  Service  of  Egyptian  Antiquities  at  Saq- 
qara,  is  by  the  gracious  permission  of  M.  G.  Maspdro  repro- 
duced here  (pi.  XLVI,  2).  Seated  on  a  chair  with  a  back,  of 
rather  rude  construction,  the  Virgin  Mary  no  less  chastely 
offers  the  nipple  of  her  right  bosom  to  a  little  Jesus, 
already  growing,  who,  installed  on  his  mother's  knee, 
holds  her  forearm  with  both  hands.  According  to  the 
pubhshed  information  this  painting  had  once  adorned  the 
walls  of  a  convent  founded  in  470  and  probably  destroyed 
soon  after  the  Arab  conquest  of  Egypt  (640-641).  Whilst 
the  Carolingian  ivory  would  be  later  than  the  image  of 
Turfan,  the  Coptic  fresco  would,  therefore,  be  earUer.  But, 
since  —  notwithstanding  the  analogy  of  the  wholes  and 
even  of  certain  details  —  we  discern  at  once  that  none  of 


(i)  KoNDAKOV,  Monuments  of  Christian  Art  at  Athos,  1902,  fig.  68  and 
p.  173  (in  Russian)  ;  Benigni,  La  Madonna  allatante  e  un  motivo  hixantino? 
ap.  II  Bessariom,  VII,  1900,  pp.  499-501.  We  are  indebted  for  this  informa- 
tion to  the  kindness  of  our  colleague  M.  Gab.  Millet. 

(2)  E.  Male,  UArt  religieux  de  la  fin  du  Moyen-dge  en  France  (1908),  p.  148. 


THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA  279 

these  three  figures  proceeds  directly  from  either  of  the  other 
two,  their  simuhaneous  existence  serves  in  the  end  only  to 
induce  us  to  bring  a  prudent  reserve  to  bear  upon  our  state- 
ments. If  our  short  enquiry  does  not  at  all  resuh,  as  we 
had  begun  to  think,  in  guaranteeing  the  entire  absence  of 
the  type  of  Nursing  Virgin  from  ancient  Christian  art,  it 
at  least  proves  the  extreme  rarety  thereof.  Consequently,  it 
suffices  —  and  it  makes  no  further  claim  —  to  divert  us 
from  the  first  trail  along  which  our  European  prejudices 
would  have  started  us. 

Whoever,  in  fact,  has  by  his  studies  acquired  a  certain 
famiharity  with  Central  Asian  matters,  whether  he  be  Indian- 
ist  or  Sinologue,  cannot  have  remained  ignorant  of  the  pre- 
ponderant role  played  by  Indian  civilization  in  «  Serindia  », 
at  least  down  to  the  coming  of  the  Musalmans ;  and  it  is 
a  fact  no  less  surely  estabhshed  that  the  principal  vehicle 
of  this  influence  was  the  religion  of  Buddha.  It  is  in  this 
direction  that  it  would  be  proper,  a  priori,  to  point  our 
researches  :  towards  the  same  quarter  we  are  in  the  case 
of  this  particular  picture  directed  by  the  character  of  the 
edifice  beneath  whose  ruins  it  was  discovered.  Now,  if  we 
look  at  it  no  longer  with  eyes  hereditarily  Christian,  but 
through  Buddhist  spectacles,  we  shall  no  less  infallibly 
recognize  in  it,  instead  of  the  Virgin  Mary  nursing  the 
Child  Jesus,  the  fairy  Hariti  suckling  her  last  born.  Pin- 
gala,   whilst  some   of  her  numerous   sons   are  playing 
around  her.  This  is  a  consecrated  iconographic  theme,  of 
which  it  will  be  easy  for  us  to  quote  numerous  examples, 
spread  over  nearly  twenty  centuries  and  over  the  whole  of 
the  Far  East.  In  face  of  the  scarcity  of  western  counterparts, 
this  abundance  of  documents  would  at  once  weigh  down 
the  balance  in  favour  of  the  Buddhist  identification :  compa- 
rison of  the  various  replicas  will  bring  full  confirmation. 


28o  THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA 

III 

But,  first  of  all,  it  is  relevant  to  present  briefly  to  the 
non-Orientalist  reader  the  goddess  whose  acquaintance  we 
invite  him  to  make.  In  truth,  she  was  originally  only  a 
fairy,  and  even  a  wicked  fairy.  By  birth  she,  as  well  as  her 
troup  of  imps,  belonged  to  the  race,  often  maleficent,  of 
spirits  of  the  air  {yakshd),  in  whom  popular  Indian  belief 
had,  and  still  has,  a  habit  of  incarnating  contagious  mala- 
dies. She  herself  personified  the  most  pitiless  of  infantile 
epidemics.  It  is  well  known  that  in  the  India  of  the  present 
day,  in  spite  of  the  progress  of  vaccination,  small-pox  is 
dreaded  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is  still  the  custom  not  to 
reckon  children  among  the  members  of  the  family  until 
they  have  victoriously  passed  through  the  trial  of  this  ter- 
rible disease.  This  is  why  the  «  green  »  Hariti  still  receives 
from  the  Buddhists  of  Nepal  the  worship  which  the  Hin- 
dus of  the  plains  address  to  the  «  cold  »  Qitala.  That  she 
should  have  ended  by  transforming  herself  from  a  formid- 
able scourge  into  a  beneficent  divinity  will  not  surprise 
any  student  of  religions.  Of  course,  there  was  a  legend  to 
explain  this  transmutation  of  worthless  lead  into  pure 
gold.  Buddha  in  person  had  once  converted  the  yakshini 
who  decimated,  or  (as  is  metaphorically  written)  piti- 
lessly «  devoured  »,  the  children  of  the  town  of  Rajagriha 
(now  Rajgir,  in  Behar).  In  order  to  convert  her  to  more 
human  feelings,  he  decided  to  deprive  her  for  a  time  of 
Pihgala.  the  last  and  most  loved  of  her  five  hundred  sons. 
Some  even  relate  that  the  Master  hid  Pirigala  under  his 
inverted  alms-vase  :  and  on  Chinese  paintings  we  do,  in 
fact,  see  hordes  of  demons  vainly  endeavouring  by  the 
help  of  cranes  and  levers  to  turn  over  the  huge  bowl, 


THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA  281 

in  which  the  little  genius  is  imprisoned  (').  However  this 
may  be,  the  stratagem  succeeded.  The  grief  caused  to 
Hariti  by  this  momentary  separation  made  her  return  to 
herself,  or,  better,  put  herself  in  the  place  of  simple  mor- 
tals, whom  she  had  at  times  robbed  of  their  sole  offspring  : 
she  swore  never  to  do  so  again.  However,  every  one  must 
live,  even  the  wicked  who  repent.  As  soon  as  she  is  con- 
verted, the  ogress  mother  respectfully  calls  the  attention  of 
the  Master  to  the  fact  that  the  first  precept  of  his  morality, 
by  interdicting  all  homicide,  really  condemns  her  and  her 
five  hundred  sons  to  die  of  hunger;  and  Buddha,  much 
struck  by  the  justice  of  this  remark,  promises  that  hence- 
forth in  all  convents  his  monks  shall  offer  a  daily  pittance, 
of  course  on  condition  that  she  and  hers  faithfully  observe 
their  vows... 

This  monastic  legend,  very  skilfully  composed,  endeav- 
ours, as  we  see,  not  merely  to  conciliate  the  contradic- 
tory notions  attached  to  this  deity,  at  once  both  cruel 
and  propitious  :  in  order  completely  to  reassure  the  faith- 
ful, it  also  stands  as  a  guarantee  against  any  relapse  of 
the  converted  yakshini  into  her  ancient  errors.  Last  and  in 
regard  to  decorum  most  important,  it  claims  to  vindicate, 
under  colour  of  a  contract  long  ago  made  with  the  Master, 
the  installation  of  this  former  ogress  in  the  convent,  and 
the  propriety  of  the  worship  offered  to  her.  It  is,  in  fact, 
only  too  clear  that  it  is  from  pure  concession  to  popular 
superstitions  that,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  Chi- 
nese pilgrim  Yi-tsing,  the  image  of  Hariti  was  to  be 
«  found  either  in  the  porch  or  in  a  corner  of  the  dining- 
hall  of  all  Indian  monasteries  ».  There  she  was,  moreover. 


(i)  Cf.  Archseologia,  LHI,  1892,  pp.  239-244  ;  La  Ugende  de  Kouei  tseu 
mouchen  (Annales  du  Mus^e  Guimet,  Bibl.  d'Art,  vol.  I);  Ed.  Chavannes, 
Toung  Pao,  Oct.  1904,  p.  490. 


282  THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA 

he  tells  us  in  plain  terms,  adored  no  longer  as  a  devourer, 
but  as  a  «  giver  »  of  children.  Usually  the  «  genius  with 
the  golden  bag  »  was  opposite  to  her  —  at  least,  when  he 
was  not,  as  in  a  number  of  surviving  representations,  seated 
beside  her  :  for  the  common  people  had  been  quick  to 
associate  the  dispenser  of  riches  with  the  goddess  of  fecund- 
ity (').  We  may  even  be  permitted  to  think  that  their  altars 
must  have  been  those  not  least  frequented  by  devout 
laymen,  the  more  so  as  both  sexes  were  there  plainly  pro- 
vided for.  A  passage  from  Hiuan-tsang  interests  us  still 
more  directly  by  attesting  that  the  worship  of  Hariti  had 
been  transported  early  into  the  north-west  of  India.  While 
following  the  same  itinerary,  we  were  surprised  to  encoun- 
ter, under  a  name  which  is  nothing  but  an  Afghan  trans- 
lation of  hers,  the  mound,  still  miraculous,  even  in  the 
eyes  of  present-day  Musalmans,  which  marks  the  location 
of  her  principal  sanctuary  in  this  country  of  Gandhara, 
where  at  about  the  beginning  of  our  era  the  Grseco-Buddhist 
art  flourished  Q. 

This  is  sufficient  to  explain  to  us  the  antiquity,  number 
and  character,  at  once  classical  and  benignant,  of  her 
Indian  images.  All  answer  more  or  less  to  the  general  des- 
cription given  by  Yi-tsing  :  she  is  depicted  «  as  holding  a 
babe  in  her  arms  and  round  her  knees  three  or  five  chil- 
dren ».  The  little  genii  who  are  usually  playing  and 
worrying  each  other  evidently  represent  her  «  five  hundred 
sons  ».  There  is  nothing  astonishing  in  seeing  them  all 
of  nearly  the  same  size  :  the  texts  admit  that  their  mother,  a 
true  Gigogne,  may  very  well  have  been  able  to  bring  them 


(i)  See  above  Essay  V,  The  Tutelary  Pair. 

(2)  Cf.  Yi-Tsing,  Records,  trans.  Takakdsu,  p.  37 ;  Hiuan-Tsang,  Memoires, 
trans.  Julien,  I,  p.  120;  Bull,  de  I'^c.  fr.  d' Extreme-Orient,  1,  1901, 
pp.  341  sqq. 


THE  BUbDHIST  MADONNA  283 

all  into  the  world  in  the  same  year  (*).  In  the  midst  of  all 
this  swarm,  which   often    dimbs  over  her  person,  one 
would  sometimes  say  that  she  is  posing  in  advance  as' 
an  Italian  allegory  of  Charity.  At  one  time  she  is  seated  : 
her  «  Benjamin  »  rests  in  her  lap  and  childishly  plays  with 
her  necklace  (pi.  XLVII,  i),  or  at  times  simultaneously 
suckles  her  breast.  Then  again  she  is  standing;  but  her 
favourite  still  clings  to  her  bosom.  Usually  he  is  placed 
astride  her  hip,  in  the  manner  in  which  Indian  women 
carry  their  children ;  and  two  at  least  of  his  brothers  have 
succeeded  in  cUmbing  as  far  as  the  maternal  shoulders 
(pi.   XLVII,  2).  With  these  two  types  —  at  times  partly 
combined,  as  in  pi.  XL VIII,  i,  which  in  addition  shows  the 
husband  of  the  goddess  —  may  be  connected  the  relatively 
numerous  images  furnished  no  less  by  the  ruins  of  the 
districts  of  Peshawar  and  Mathura  than  by  the  famous  grot- 
toes  of  Ajanta.  The  ogress,   once  the  terror  of  fruitful 
mothers,  has  clearly  there  become  a  kind  of  matron,  hope 
of  barren  women.  It  is  this  auspicious  group  that,  as  we 
are  about  to  see,  has  conquered  the  whole  of  the  Far  East. 


IV 

For  this  pacific  conquest  two  ways  had  been  opened  by 
those  pioneers  of  Indian  civilization,  leaders  of  caravans  or 
master  mariners,  the  one  by  land  and  the  other  by  sea.  It 
was  this  latter  route  which  must  perforce  have  been  followed 
in  order  to  reach  Java,  on  the  actual  confines  of  the  Indian 
Archipelago.  In  preference  to  the  little  bronzes  of  the  mu- 
seum in  Batavia  —  evidence  too  portable  to  be  unexception- 
able, —  we  reproduce  here  the  HaritJ  actually  sculptured  on 


(i)  Mahdvastu,  ed,  Senart,  I,  p.  253,  1.  2. 


284  THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA 

the  left  wall  of  the  entrance  corridor  of  the  temple  called 
Chandi  Mendut,  near  to  the  famous  stupa  of  Boro-Budur 
(IX*  century),  and  doubtless  almost  contemporaneous  with 
it.  Represented  on  the  right  wall  opposite,  an  image  of 
the  genius  of  riches  completes  the  proof  of  the  trans- 
plantation of  their  double  worship  into  the  most  beautiful 
of  the  « Islands  of  the  Southern  Seas  »  (')•  Crouching  upon 
a  cushion,  her  legs  covered  with  a  sarong  and  her  body 
clothed  only  with  jewels,  the  goddess,  who  wears  a  sump- 
tuous coiffure,  is  surrounded  by  no  less  than  thirteen 
«  little  demons  ».  One  is  being  presented  to  her  on  the 
right  by  an  attendant,  whilst  the  others  play  in  the  sand, 
caper  about,  or  climb  trees  in  order  to  steal  their  fruits ; 
and  during  this  time  Pirigala,  resting  in  her  arms,  prepares 
to  suckle  with  all  the  conviction  of  a  nursHng  charged  by 
the  sculptor  to  emphasize  the  identification  of  his  mo- 
ther (pi.  XLVIII,  2). 

If,  this  first  mark  noted,  we  return  to  our  starting- 
point,  we  may  follow  the  same  family  group  on  the  march 
over  the  sandy  roads  of  Central  Asia.  It  was  hardly  doubt- 
ful that,  in  order  to  reach  China,  they  must  have  pursued 
the  same  routes  which  the  Chinese  pilgrims  had  taken  in 
order  to  reach  India.  Of  this  probability  recent  discoveries 
have  made  a  certainty.  The  original  of  the  frontispiece  marks 
at  Turfan  precisely  the  route  followed  on  the  outward 
journey  by  Fa-hian  and  Hiuan-tsang,  the  northern  route 
which,  footing  the  chain  of  the  Celestial  Mountains,  rounds 
the  great  desert  basin  of  the  Tarim.  As  to  the  southern  route, 
which  deployed  along  the  northern  slope  of  the  Kuen-lun 
mountains  the  chaplet  of  the  oases  visited  by  Sung  Yun 
on  the  outward  journey  and  by  Hiuan-tsang  on  his  return. 


(i)  See  above,  p.  264. 


THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA  285 

it  was  unwilling  to  be  behind  its  rival  in  any  way,  and  it 
also  has  already  furnished  us,  if  not  with  a  canvas,  at  least 
with  a  mural  painting  of  Hariti. 

No  one  is  unacquainted  with  the  briUiant  excavations 
carried  out  by  Sir  Aurel  Stein,  on  the  occasion  of  two 
successive  missions,  over  the  ancient  alignment  of  this 
track  across  the  present-day  desert  of  Takla-Makan.  One  of 
them  brought  to  light,  in  March  1908,  at  the  north  of  the 
oasis  of  Domoko  (itself  situated  at  a  longitude  of  a  little 
more  than  one  degree  east  of  Khotan)  a  large  figure  of  a 
woman,  painted  in  tempera  on  a  coating  of  mortar,  in  the 
embrasure  of  the  door  of  a  little  Buddhist  sanctuary.  The 
cell  measured  on  the  interior  m.  2,50  by  m.  2,45,  and  its 
mud  walls,  decorated  with  BuddhasandBodhisattvas,  attain- 
ed a  thickness  of  m.  1,35.  The  panel,  m.  1,15  wide,  which 
particularly  interests  us  here,  had  been  preserved  almost 
intact  under  a  heap  of  sand  accumulated  by  the  wind  to  a 
height  of  m.  1,20.   Only  the  lower  part   had  in  former 
times,  when  the  entrance  served  as  a  passage  for  worship- 
pers, suffered  much  from  the  abrasion  of  passers-by.  How- 
ever, according  to  the  notes  kindly  communicated  to  us 
by  the  explorer,  there  could  still  be  distinguished  near  the 
left  foot  of  the  woman,  who,  apparently,  is  seated,  two 
little  figures,  clothed  and  gambolling  about,  whilst  near 
her  right  foot  a  little  naked  boy  seemed  to  be  getting  out  of 
the  way  of  a  blow  struck  by  a  person  completely  effaced. 
As  to  the    upper   portion,    it   has   reached   the  British 
Museum  in  an  excellent  condition ;  and  Sir  Aurel  Stein 
has  very  kindly  allowed   us  to  give  a  first  and  double 
reproduction  of  it  (pi.  XLV).  It  shows  clearly  the  char- 
acteristic features   of   the  principal   figure,   the  dreamy 
squint  of  the  eyes,  the  symmetry  of  the  two  lovelocks, 
the  perforated  and  frightfully  distended  lobes  of  the  ears, 


286  THE  BtfDDHISt  MAD0I4NA 

the  oval  of  the  «  moon  face  »,  too  broad  according  to  our 
taste,  the  folds  (classic  in  India)  of  the  neck,  the  net  of  pearls 
in  the  hair,  finally  and  above  all,  the  triple  circular  orb  of  the 
nimbus.  The  goddess,  since  such  she  is,  is  dressed  to  the 
waist  in  a  short  cassock,  of  a  rich  greenish  hue,  spotted  with 
yellow  and  trimmed  with  fawn  braid,  the  short  sleeves  ter- 
minating above  the  elbow  in  a  frill  of  linen  folded  in  fluted 
plaits.  Underneath  are  long,  reddish  sleeves,  evidently  be- 
longing to  the  bodice  of  the  dress.  A  turquoise-coloured 
scarf,  exactly  similar  to  that  worn  by  the  Gandharian  images 
(pi.  XLVII,  i),  hangs  in  folds  in  the  hollows  of  her  arms. 
Her  left  hand,  with  straightened  index,  rests  on  the  front  of 
her  knee,  which  is  bent  in  the  Indian  manner.  Meanwhile 
a  naked  child  cUngs  to  her  left  bosom,  as  if  asking  to  be 
suckled,  whilst  another  little  boy  is  seated  astride  on  her 
right  forearm,  and  two  more,  one  of  whom  is  dressed, 
ride  familiarly  on  her  shoulders.  This  more  than  suffices  to 
determine,  from  analogy  with  pll.  XLVII-XLVIII,  i,  the 
identification  with  Hariti  and  her  mischievous  progeny. 
The  opposite  wall  of  the  embrasure  is,  unfortunately,  des- 
troyed :  we  should  have  expected  to  see  there  the  genius 
of  riches,  the  usual  counterpart  of  the  goddess  of  children. 
Let  us  add  that,  according  to  the  chronological  indications 
ehcited  by  Sir  Aurel  Stein,  the  decoration  of  the  temple  to 
which  this  image  belonged  could  not  be  later  than  the 
¥111"*  century  A.  D.,  and  may  be  a  little  earlier. 

If,  continuing  our  journey  eastward,  we  at  last  arrive 
in  China,  we  are  so  much  the  more  certain  to  discover 
Hariti  there,  as,  according  to  the  evidence  of  Yi-tsing,  «.  the 
portrait  of  the  goddess-mother  of  demon  sons  (Kwei- 
tseu-mu-chen)  »  was  already  in  his  time  (end  of  the 
VH"" century)  to  be  met  with  in  the  country.  In  fact,  under 
this  same  surname,  pronounced   Ki-si-mo-jin,  she   has 


THE  BUDDHliSt  MADONNA  2S7 

pushed  her  way  much  further  still,  as  far  as  Japan.  A  simple 
inspection  of  her  modern  images,  whether  representing  her 
under  her  usual  mask  or,  by  a  curious  survival,  in  her 
proper  guise  as  an  ogress  (pi.  XLIX),  will  prove  that  the 
type  has  not,  any  more  than  the  name,  been  so  travestied 
by  the  local  interpretation  that  one  can  hesitate  as  to  its 
identity;  even  in  the  absence  of  any  traditional  designation, 
it  could  be  divined  simply  from  the  child  nestUng  in  his 
mother's  lap  or  walking  by  her  side.  In  China  itself  matters 
are  not  quite  so  simple,  and  a  new  element  seems  to  have 
intervened  to  complicate  the  problem.  Has  the  personality 
of  Hariti  been  engrafted  upon  that  same  native  goddess 
who,  according  to  a  certain  interpretation,  had  been  identi- 
fied with  the  Indian  Bodhisattva,  Avalokite^vara  ?  Has  she 
simply  been  absorbed  into  the  vogue  of  the  feminine 
forms  of  the  latter  and  considered  as  one  of  the  numer- 
ous avatars  of  his  inexhaustible  grace?  It  is  not  for  us  to 
decide,  any  more  than  to  unravel  the  origins  of  the  cu- 
rious legend  which  tends  to  make  of  «  Kuan-yin  with  a 
child  »  a  virgin  who  is  a  mother  only  by  adoption.  But 
what  we  believe  we  can  affirm,  by  reason  both  of  the 
fundamental  identity  of  the  worship  offered  and '  of  the 
exterior  analogy  of  the  iconographic  types,  is  that  the 
innumerable  statuettes,  either  seated  or  standing,  in  which 
« the  Great  Mistress  with  the  white  robe.. .  just  because  she  is 
the  patron  of  childless  people,  is  represented  with  a  child 
in  her  arms,  which  makes  her  strongly  resemble  the  Vir- 
gin Mary  (*)  » ,  are  only  succedanea  of  the  Indian  and  Serind- 
ian  images  of  Hariti  (pi.  L).  Finally,  and  consequentially, 
we  must  likewise  recognize  the  latter  under  the  exactly 


(i)  De  Groot,  LesfeUs  annuelkment  celebrees  a  Emoui  (Ann.  du  Musie 
Guimet,  vol.  XI),  p.   182. 


2.'! 


288  THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA. 

similar  features  of  the  Annamese  Quan-Am,  who,  «  seated 
on  a  rock  and  draped  in  a  robe  with  wide  plaits,  bears  in 
her  arms  a  child,  which  has  caused  her  to  be  surnamed  by 
our  soldiers  the  Holy  Virgin  (')  ». 

V 

This  time  the  circle  of  our  pilgrimage  of  research  is  clos- 
ed, but  only  after  having  embraced  the  whole  of  the  Far 
East.  We  see  that  the  observation  of  the  Christian  analogy 
of  these  images  recurs  like  a  refrain  in  the  mouths  of  those 
Europeans  whose  eyes  have  once  lighted  upon  them.  In 
case  the  unanimity  of  the  testimonies  should  run  some  risk 
of  impressing  the  reader,  he  will  quickly  reassure  himselt 
by  reflecting  that,  if  some  Egyptian  mummy  were  wakened 
from  its  secular  sleep,  it  would  not  hesitate  in  the  least  to 
recognize  in  them  replicas  of  Isis  suckling  Horus,  whilst 
every  modern  Hindu  would  with  the  same  certainty  see  in 
them  Krishna  in  the  arms  of  his  mother  D^vaki  or  of  his 
nurse  Ya^oda.  The  type  of  the  woman  with  a  child,  the 
happy  incarnation  of  the  wishes  of  mothers  and  the  natural 
object  of  their  worship,  belongs,  in  fact,  to  all  times,  if 
not  to  all  countries.  Still  there  are  distinctions  to  be  made. 
Not  everywhere  do  the  same  images  personify  the  same 
ideas,  far  from  it  :  did  they  so,  diflFerent  civilizations 
would  nevertheless  know  them  under  different  names.  The 
whole  intention  of  this  short  study  is  to  assign  to  the 
heroine  of  the  frontispiece  and  pi.  XLV  her  authentic  posi- 
tion by  restoring  to  her,  if  possible,  her  moral  physionomy 
and  replacing  her  in  her  milieu.  Deified,  as  witness  her  halo; 
a  feminine  divinity,  as  witness  her  forms ;  goddess-mother. 


(i)  G.  Ddmoutier,  Les  cUlles  annamiits  (Extract  from  the  Revue  Indo- 
Chinoise,  1906),  p.  30  of  the  separate  print. 


THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA  289 

as  witness  her  progeny  ;  affiliated  to  the  Buddhist  pantheon, 
as  witness  the  place  in  which  she  was  found ;  Indian  by  ori- 
gin, as  witness  her  Gandharian  prototypes;  we  have  been 
able,  without  any  shadow  of  violence,  to  include  her  in  the 
group  of  idols,  and  the  cycle  of  legends,  dedicated  to  the 
ancient  ogress  of  smallpox.  Of  course,  she  is  shown  to  us 
only  as  transformed  into  a  protectress  of  children  and  a  dis- 
penser of  fecundity  to  women  :  from  the  very  moment 
when  we  catch  sight  of  her  in  India,  this  transformation  is 
already  an  accomplished  fact.  In  the  last  analysis,  the  best 
verification  of  her  identity  rests,  here  as  there,  in  her 
entourage  of  urchins  :  were  it  not  for  this  suspicious 
trace  of  her  past,  which  even  in  her  subsequent  dignity 
continues  to  cling  to  her,  we  should  not  have  been  able 
with  absolute  certainty  to  call  her  by  her  Sanskrit  name  of 
Hariti,  the  so-styled  «  mother  of  the  little  demons  ». 

All  taken  into  consideration,  we  believe  that  we  thus  arrive 
at  a  precise  and  sure  identification  :  and  the  interest  of  this 
iconographic  type  is  thereby  increased.  It  announces,  or 
recalls,  in  fact,  congeners  beginning  with  India,  its  father- 
land, as  far  as  Japan,  the  limit  of  its  migrations,  to  say  no- 
thing of  Java.  Henceforward  it  would  be  difficult  to  choose 
a  better  illustration  of  the  recently  acquired  knowledge  con- 
cerning the  progressive  diffusion  of  Buddhist  art  through- 
out the  Far  East.  It  was  not  until  1900  that  our  public 
had  a  revelation  of  the  existence  in  Japan,  since  the  VII"" 
century,  of  a  rehgious  art  of  the  human  figure  —  of  what 
was  formerly  styled  the  «  grand  art  ».  That  its  origin  was 
to  be  sought  in  China,  through  the  intermediacy  of  Corea, 
was  quickly  seen,  and  can  easily  to-day  be  verified  by  the 
photographs  recently  published  by  M.  Ed.  Chavannes  ('). 

(i)  Ed.  Chavannes,  Mission   archiologique  dans  la  Chine  stptentrionak, 
Paris,  1909,  pU.  CV-CCLXXXVII. 


290  THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA 

The  productions  of  the  ancient  Buddhist  art  of  China  are 
in  their  turn  connected  in  the  most  evident  manner  with 
those  lately  exhumed  by  the  Russian,  English,  German, 
French,  and  even  Japanese  excavations  in  Turkestan.  But 
these  latter  had  been  independently  and  from   the   first 
connected,  by  a  transition  no  less  evident,,  with  the  works 
of  the  Indo-Greek  school  of  Gandhara.  Thus,  thanks  to  the 
combined  efforts  of  the  latest  scientific  missions  in  Asia, 
we  have  seen  joined  again  the  scattered  links,  or,  better,  the 
broken  glimpses,  which  we  already  possessed  of  the  long 
chain  of  transmission.  The  most  important  result  of  the 
last  explorations  will  have  been  definitely  to  arrange  before 
our  eyes  in  an  uninterrupted  series  the  numerous  images 
which,  escorting  that  of  Buddha,  followed  it  in  procession  as 
far  as  the  islands  of  the  Rising  Sun  or  of  the  Southern 
Seas.  In  this  varied  train  of  gracious  or  furious  figures,  if 
there  is  none  more  charming,  neither  is  there  any  more  «  re- 
presentative »,  than  that  of  Hariti,  were  it  only  because  we 
meet  her  at  each  step  on  the  road;  and  this  is  why,  among 
11  those  which  have  already  been  brought  to  the  museums 
of  Europe,  this  one,  from  the  first,  forced  itself  upon  our 
notice. 

But  let  us  not  be  misunderstood.  We  do  not  in  the  least 
claim  to  base  on  the  frail  support  of  this  single  image  the 
theory  which  hundreds  of  documents  continue  more  and 
more  to  reinforce,  the  theory  of  the  conquest  of  eastern  Asia 
by  Indo-Greek  art  :  we  merely  say  that  it  remains  a  sign- 
ally typical  example  of  a  historical  phenomenon  whereof  it 
formed  only  a  part.  Were  we  pressed  a  little  further,  we 
might  even  be  willing  to  see  in  it  an  excellent  illustration 
of  a  fact  still  more  general.  The  recent  unification  of  the  art 
of  higher  and  lower  Asia  has,  in  fact,  a  correlative  in  the 
fundamental  and  long  recognized  unity  of  European  art  ; 


THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA  291 

and  now  it  appears  more  and  more  clearly  that  the  two 
have  a  common  source.  If  for  a  moment  we  disregard  the 
intrusion  of  the  Musalman  Arabs,  the  history  of  religious 
art  in  the  ancient  world,  from  the  beginning  of  our  era, 
may  —  when  reduced  to  its  essential  features  and  excluding 
numerous  local  variations  —  be  summed  up  somewhat  in 
this  manner  :  on  the  decadent  trunk  of  Hellenistic  art 
were  grafted  in  nearer  Asia  two  vigorous  young  shoots, 
of  which  one  has  been  called  Graeco-Buddhist,  and  the  other 
might  just  as  well  be  called  Graeco-Christian .  It  is  not  for  us 
to  ignore  the  fact  that  the  latter  has  through  Italy  and 
Byzantium  conquered  the  whole  of  Europe;  but  we  must 
realize  also  that  the  former,  growing  and  multiplying  like 
the  Indian  fig-tree,  has  likewise  gradually  won  over  the 
whole  of  Eastern  Asia.  And  thus,  from  the  islands  of  the 
Atlantic  to  those  of  the  Pacific,  humanity  has  by  degrees 
come  to  pray  only  at  the  feet  of  more  or  less  distant,  more 
or  less  unsuspected  oflFshoots  of  Greek  art.  But  on  the  most 
distant  branches  of  this  great  evergreen  tree  never  have 
there  burst  forth  flowers  more  beautiful  nor  more  full  of 
resemblance,   if  not  in   regard   to    the    moral  perfume 
which  they  exhale,  at  least  in  regard  to  the  material  form 
in  which  they  array   themselves  before   our  eyes,  than 
the  images,  Christian  and   Buddhist,  of  the  Madonna. 
Even  if,  as  we   venture  to   foresee,  the  field  of  artistic 
comparisons  must  habitually  be  widened  from  one  ocean 
to  the   other,    the  most  universally  attractive   role  will 
always  revert  to  those  figures  which  incarnate  the  mater- 
nal —  and  in  some  cases  at  the  same  time  virginal  — 
grace  of  the  eternal  feminine. 


PLATE  XLV 

Cf.  pp.  285  6. 


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HARITI,  THE  BUDDHIST  MADONNA 


PL.  XLV 


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PLATE  XLVI 

Cf,  pp.  278-9. 


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THE   SUCKLING   MADONNA 


PL,   XLVI 


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Cf.  pp.  232-3.. 


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THE   BUDDHIST   MADONNA 


PL.   XLVII 


o 

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PLATE  XLVIII 
Cf.  pp.  141-3,  261,  283-4. 


I.  —  Group,  consisting  of  P^ncika  and  Hiriti,  now  in  the  Peshawar 
Museum,  and  reproduced  from  a  photograph  kindly  lent  by  Dr.  J.  Ph, 
VoGEL.  It  comes  from  the  excavations  made  by  Dr.  D.  B.  Spooner  at 
Sahri-Bahlol,  and  has  already  been  publi.-.hed  by  him  in  Arch.  Surv. 
India,  Annual  Report,  1906-j,  pi.  XXXII,  c.  In  his  hands,  both 
broken,  the  genius  of  riches  must  have  held  (right)  his  lance  and  (left) 
the  purse  which  Hiriii,  apparently,  was  helping  him  to  exhibit  to  the 
gladdened  tyes  of  the  faithful  (cf.  pp.  141-3  and  283).  In  addition  to 
the  nursling  of  the  goddess  we  see  also  around  them  five  other  putti, 
whilst  sixteen  mare  play  about  on  the  pedestal. 

II.  —  This  photograph,  taken  by  the  author,  represents  only  the 
central  part  of  the  panel,  with  the  image  of  the  goddess  (cf.  pp.  264 
and  284).  For  a  complete  picture  we  may  have  recourse  to  the  pho- 
tograph published  by  Dr.  J.  Ph.  Vogel  in  the  B.  E.  F.  E.  O.,  IV, 
1904,  p.  727. 


THE   BUDDHIST   MADONNA 


PL,   XLVIII 


'•IbKl?^ 


1.  —  HARITI   AND    HER   PARTNER   IN   GANDHARA 


2.  —  HARITI   IN   JAVA 


PLATE  XLIX 

Cf.  pp.  286-7. 


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INDEX 


(Arabic  numerals  refer  lo  pages,  Roman  to  the  descriptions  accompanying  the  numbered  plates). 


Abandonment  of  Home,  Great.  See  Mahd- 

bhinishkramana. 
Abhayamudrd.  See  Mudra. 
Acacia  sirisa.  See  ^irlsha. 
AcoKA,  Bodhi-tree  provided  with  railing 
by,  17,  102. 

—  —  visited  by,  23,  108. 

—  Buddha  relics  redistributed  by,  78. 

—  Gandhira  a  frontier  country    un- 

der, 121. 

—  Ramagrima  visited  by,  25. 

—  romance  of,  at  Vidi^a  79. 

—  Sinchi  connected  with,  78. 
Afohlvaddna,  passage  in  the,  figured  79 

(Sanchi). 
AcvAGHOSHA.  See  Buddhacariu. 

—  See  Siltralamkara. 

Agvaitha  figured   on  the  gate   of  S4nch5 
94,  102.  104,  107. 

—  Su  also  Bodhi-tree. 
Agathokles,  coin  of,  described  126. 
Agnes,  type  of,  in  J4taka  49. 
Ajanti  caves,  date  of  frescoes  of.  190. 

—  —      Great  Miracle  figured  in  the, 

160  and  n.  2,  162-5,  xxi. 

—  —      Hiriti  figured  in  the,  xlix. 

—  —      paintings  (archaic)  of  the,  4. 

—  —      Shaddanta-jdtaka  figured  in 

the,40, 188, 195-9, 199, XXIX. 
AjAtacatru,  visit  of,  to  Buddha  figured 

19,  179,  n.  2  (Barhut). 
Akanishtha   heaven,    the  highest   of  the 

Ripadhdtu,  159,  n.  i. 
Akshobhya  figured  267  (BatavJa  Museum). 

—  —      256-7(Boro-Budur). 

Alexander,  Indian   campaign    of,    126. 
Alms-vase  figured  xxvii  (Gandhira). 


AmarA,  story  of,  figured  50  (Barhut). 
Amardvati  sculptures,  elegant  style  of,  n. 

—  Stapa,  Boro-Budur  modelled  upon 

the,  209-10. 

—  —      Buddha    figures    from    the, 

date  of,  116. 

—  —       Buddha's   visit  to  Bimbisdra 

figured  on  the,  102. 

—  —      date   of  bas-reliefs  on   the, 

190. 

—  —      four  Great  Miracles  figured 

on  the,  73,  148,  ii-iv. 

—  —      railing  of  (fragmentary),  4. 

—  —      Shaddanta-jataka  figured  on 

the,  39,  188, 195-6,  XXIX. 
Amba.  See  Mango. 

Ambrosia,  Vase  of,  figured  91  (S4nchl). 
Amitabha  figured  256-7  (Boro-Budur). 

—  figured  on  head  of  Avalokite^vara 

264  (Chandi  Mendut). 
Amoghasiddhi   figured  256-7  (Boro  Bu- 

dur). 
Ananda  incarnated   in  King  of  Benares 

43 ;  XIX  (Sanchi). 
Anchorite.  See  Hermit. 
Anda,  partofStQpa,  33. 
Animals,  Buddha  in  company  of,  figured 
107  (Sanchi). 

—  Buddha's  birth  in  form  of,  35. 

—  throne  formed  of  superposed,  xxi 

(Aja^ta). 

—  See    also  Antelope,   Buffalo,    Bull, 

Camel,  Crocodile,  Deer,  Dog, 
Elephant,  Hamsa,  Horse,  Lion, 
Monkey,  Quail,  Parrot,  Peacock, 
Stag,  Swan,  Tortoise,  Unicorn, 
Woodpecker. 

24 


^94 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART,  & 


Ankle-rings   worn   by   female    figure    89 

(Sinchi). 
Ankufa.  See  Elephant,  goad  for. 
Annam,  HiritJ  figure  in,  287-8. 
Antagiri,   Bimbis4ra's  visit  to  Buddha  at, 

figured  loi  (Sancht). 
Antelope,  Buddha's  birth  as.  See  Kurutiga- 
jataka. 

—  figured  97,  107  (Sinchi). 

—  —      XXIX  (Amaravati). 

—  Woodpecker  and  Tortoise,  story  of 

the,  40. 
Antelope-horn.  See  Rishya^ringa. 

—  See  also  Deer. 

Antialkidas  mentioned  on  column  at  Vi- 
difi  82. 

Antiquities,  Indian,  materials  for  Diction- 
ary of,  80. 

ArAda  figured  xxxvii  (Boro-Budur). 

ArdmadHsaka-jdtaka  narrated  44. 

—  figured  VI  (Barhut). 

Archer,  Buddha's  birth  as.  Sc«Asadisa-j4taka. 

—  figured  on  the  gate  of  Sinchi  93. 

Aristotle,  Lay  of,  cited  48. 

Armourer,  workshop  of,  figured  52  (Bar- 
hut). 

Arms,    dislocated,    of    Javanese    women 

figured  245-6  (Boro-Budur). 
Arrow,  making  of,  described  52. 
Art,  Buddhist,  abstract  character  of,  14. 

—  —        ceremonial  occasions  of,  10. 

—  —        conflicting    tendencies     in 

ancient  school  of,  18. 

—  —        developement    of    ancient 

school  of,  17,  25-6. 

—  —        Gandharian.  See  Gandhira. 

—  —        origin  of.  See  Essay  I. 

—  —        routine   procedure    of  an- 

cient, 17. 

Asadisa-jdtaka  narrated  56. 

Ascetic,  Buddha's  birth  as.  See  AriraadA- 
saka-jjltaka,  Bhisa-jltaka,Camma- 
sataka-  jataka  Dabbhapuppha-ja- 
taka,  Ddbhiyamakkata-j^taka. 

—  See  Arada,  Brahman,  Hermit. 
AsiTA,  Buddha's  presentation  to,  figured  5 

(Amaravat!). 
Atlantes  figured  xxv  (Gandhara). 
Aureoles  figured  xxi    (Ta-t'ong-fu),    xxv 


(Gandhara),  xxviil  (Gandharai,  See  also 
Halo  and  Nimbus. 

Avaddna-fataka,  Maitrakanyakavadana  ac- 
cording to  the,  244,  n.  2. 

AvALOKiTEgvARA  figured  255,  XXII  (Boro- 
Budur),  xxiii  (Kuda). 

—  pensive  pose  of,  xxv  (Gandhara). 

—  statuette  in  Batavia   Museum  267. 

—  wanting    in   Gandhara  sculptures, 

also  in  Divyivadana  and  Maha- 

vastu,  177-8. 
Axe,  hermit's,  figured  98. 
Ayuh-samskdra-utsarjana  localized  at  Vai- 
5411  149  n. 

Balconies  figured  93  (Sanchl). 

—  —      xxv  (Gandhara). 
Balustrade.  See  Railing. 

Band  round  knees  and  loins.  See  Paryaii- 

ka-bandha. 
Banner  figured  xxxv  (Boro-Budur). 
Barhut    railing,  remains   of,    in   Calcutta 
Museum  57. 

—  stupa,  Bodhi  figured  on  the,  102. 

—  —     Buddha  represented  only  by 

symbols  on  the,  75. 

—  —    Buddha's  Conception  figured 

on  the,  92. 

—  —     Buddha's  figure  wanting  on 

the,  117. 

—  —    Buddhas,  seven  traditional,  fi- 

gured on  the,  72. 

—  —     Buddhist  Heaven  figured  on 

the,  72. 

—  —    date  of,  34,  190. 

—  —    Elipatta's  visit  to  Buddha  fi- 

gured on  the,  19. 

—  —    Great  Miracle  figured  on  the, 

178-180,  xxvin. 

—  —    jitakas    figured  on  the.   See 

Essay  II,  V,  VI. 

—  —     Shaddanta-jitalta   figured    on 

the,  39,  184,  194-6,  XXIX. 

—  —     Vigvantara-jataka   figured  on 

the,  57. 

—  —     Kinnaras  figured  on  the,  242. 

—  —     monksnot  figured  on  the,  76. 

—  —     scenes  identified  by  inscrip- 

tions on  the,  68. 


INDEX 


295 


Barhut  sttlpa,  sculptures  ot,  followed  a  liv- 
ing tradition  58. 
Bark-garments,    Brahmaiiical,   figured    on 

the  gate  ofSanchi  97. 
Barth,  a.,  scene  at  BoroBudur  identi- 
fied by,  269  n. 
Barygaza.  See  Biiiruka. 
Baskets  figured  at  Barhut,  50. 
Bas-reliefs,   composition   of,    at    S4nchi, 
compared     with    that    of    altar 
scenes  of  Middle  Ages,  83. 

—  passim. 

Batavia  Museum,  sculptures  in  the,  266-9. 
Beal,  Rev.  S.,  conversion  of  Kil^yapas 
identified  by,  76  (Sanchl). 

—  view    of,    concerning    miraculous 

trees,  72. 
Beasts.  See  Animals. 
Bells  figured  xliv  (Chandi  Mendut). 
Belt  of  jewelry,  worn  by  female,   figured 

89  (S4nchl) 
Benares,  Great  Miracle  figured    at,   181- 

2. 

—  king  ot,  see  Ruru-j4taka. 

—  sculptures  from,  iv. 

—  signacula  from,  12. 

—  See  also  Mrigadiva,  SSrnath. 
Besnagar,  Anoka's  romance  at,  79. 
Besom.  See  Rajoharana. 
Bestiaria,  Unicorn  story  in,  48. 
Bhadra-ghata.  See  Vase,  Lottery. 
BhaUdUya-jdtaka.  See  Kinnara-jltaka. 
Bharhut.  See  Barhut. 
Bharukaccha.  See  Bhiruka. 

Bhilsa,  S4nchl  stdpa  near,  63. 

Bhiru,  Minister  of  RudrSyana,  figured  238 
(Boro-Budur). 

Bhiruka,  foundation  of,  240. 

Bhisorjdtaka  narrated  45-6. 

Bhdpal,  Begum  of,  offers  gate  of  Sanchi 
stOpa  to  France  62. 

Bhrixdt5-TArA,  image  of,  in  Batavia  Mu- 
seum 267. 

Bignonia  flower  figured  86  (S4ncM). 

—  Suaveolens   See  Piifal!. 
BimbisAra,  visit  of,  to  Buddha,  figured  77, 

loi  (Sinchl). 

—  visit   of  Buddha   to,    figured   102 

(AraarSvatl^. 


BimbisAra   mentioned   in    story  of  Ru- 

driyana  232  sqq. 
Birds  figured  100,  107  (Sinchi). 

—  XXV,  on  roof,  (Gandhara). 

—  XXXIV  (Boro-Budur). 

—  XLIV  (Chandi  Mendut). 

Block,  D'Th.,  viewof,  concerning  figure 
of  bull  in  Lahore  Museum  21  n.  2. 

BoccAcio,  Rishyafriiiga-jitaka  transposed 
by,  48 . 

Bodh-Gay4,  signacula  from,  12. 

—  See  also  Mahibodhi. 

Bodhi,  emblem  of  the,  employed  for  mi- 
racles of  the  second  rank  19. 

—  figured  16,  77,  103,  108  (Sanchi), 

102  (Barhut),  iv  (Gandhara  and 
Araaravatl),xix  (Sarnath). 

—  represented  by  throne  under  tree 

148,  n.  2. 

—  temple,  miracles  related  by  Hiuan- 

tsang  concerning  the,  24,  n.  i . 

—  tree  at  Bodh-Gaya  13. 

—  —    Anoka's  visit  to  the,  23,  108. 

—  —    Buddha  figured  under  the,  26 

(Gandhara). 

—  —     Buddha  symbolized  by,  19-20. 

—  —     Buddhas,  seven  last,  each  sym- 

bolized by  his  special,  72, 104 
(Sanchi). 

—  —    figured   72,    102  (Barhut  and 

sanchi),  89,  90,  102  (San- 
chi), 178  (Barhut),  i  (on 
coins),  11  (Sanchi  and  Ama- 
rivati). 

—  —    railing  built  by  Agoka  round, 

17- 

—  ~    Tishyarakshita's  attempt  upon 

the,  108. 
Bodhisattva  figured  (?)  162,  n.  2  (Ajan^a), 
255  (Boro-Budur),  263-4  (Chan- 
di Mendut),  xv  andxvi  (Gandha- 
ra), XXII  (Boro-Budur),  xxiii 
(Kuda),  xxvii  and  xxvin  (Gan- 
dhara, XXXV  (Boro-Budur). 

—  See  also  Siddhirtha,  Avalokite^vara, 

Maitreya,  Manju^rl. 
Bodhisattvdvaddnakdpalald ,    Boro  -  Budur 
sculptures  in  conformity  with  the, 
225  6. 


296 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART,  & 


Bodhisativdvaddnakalpahtd,    Maitrakanyaka 
story  according  to  the,  244  n.  2. 

—  Mandhatravadana  according  to  the, 

225  n.  I 
Book,  emblem  of  Brahma  175;  ofManju- 
fri  255  (Boro-Budur). 

—  figured    XXVII,  xxviii  (GandhSra)i 

L  (China). 
Boro-Budur,  artistic  defects  of,  207-8. 

—  conservation  work  at,  206  n. 

—  designed  as  stfipa  modelled  upon 

AmaravatJ  Stilpa  209-10. 

—  Guide  to,   by  J.  Groneman,  215. 

—  Great  Miracle  figured  at,  xxil. 

—  j4takas  at,  Essay  VIII. 

—  original  plan  of,  208  n.  i,  213. 

—  sculptures,  artistic  merits  of,  212-3. 

—  —  Bodhisattvavadanakalpa- 
lat4  followed  by  the,  225-6. 

—  —  characteristics  (crowded 
scenes,  avoidance  of  scenes  of 
violence,  failure  in  individuality, 
bookish  character)  of  250-4. 

—  —        edifying  scenes  empha- 

sized on,  227. 

—  —  insipid  scenes  figured 

in,  248-9. 

—  —  Pradakshina     arrange- 

ment of,  214-5. 

—  —       to  be  photographed  248. 

—  situation,  form  and  dimensions  of, 

205,  206-7. 

—  view  of,  XXXI,  xxxii,  xxxiii. 
Bowls  of  viands  figured  233  (Boro-Bu- 
dur). 

Boy,  golden,  figured  l  (China). 
Boys  playing  a  game  figured  on  a  pain- 
ting from  Central  Asia  273-4. 
Bracelets   worn    by    female    figure    89 

(Sanchl). 
BrahmA figured  96  (Sincht),  162  and  n.  2. 
(Ajanta),  xv  (Kanishka  casket), 
XIX  (Sarnath),  xxiv  (Gandhara). 

—  heaven  of,   figured   71,    92,    103 

(Sinchl). 
Brahmamitra  mentioned  in  inscription  4 

(Bodh-Gaya). 
Brahman  ascetic.  See  Cammasataka-jataka, 

44. 


Brahman,  bark  garments  of,   figured   97 
(Sinchi). 

—  figured    97    (Sanchl),  218    (Boro- 

Budur),    XXV  (Loriyan-Tangai), 
XXXIV,  XXXVII,  XL  (Boro-Budur). 

—  headdress  of.  See  Chignon. 

—  hermitage    figured   xxxvii  (Boro- 

Budur). 

—  inferior  to  Kshatriya  according  to 

the  Buddhists,  54. 

—  music  of  the,  48. 

—  See  also  Arida,  Asita. 
Brishl.  See  Mat. 

British  Museum,  signacula  in  the,  11. 
Broach.  See  Bhiruka. 

Buddha,   almsbowl    of,  worshipped    xv 
(Gandhara). 

—  birth  of,  figured  2 1  d.  i  (later  Stelae 

of  Benares),  70  n.    i    (Sanchl), 

III  (Gandhara  and  Amaravatl), 

IV  (Gandhara  and  Benares),  xix 
(Sarnath). 

—  —      symbolized  20-1   (Amara- 

vatl), 21  (Buddhist  coins). 

—  Bodhi  of.  Su  Bodhi. 

—  castes  in  relation  to,  53. 

—  conception  of,  figured  92  (Sanchi), 

III   (Gandhara   and  Amarivati). 

—  death  of.  See  Parinirvana. 

—  descent  of,  from  heaven.  Set    De- 

vavatara. 

—  Dharmacakrapravartana     of.    See 

Dharmacakra. 

—  elephant  tamed  by,  at  Rajagriha, 

ISO. 

—  farewell  of,  to  Chandaka  iv  (Be- 

nares). 

—  figure,  artistic  value  of  the,  136-7. 

—  —     composition  of  the,  consis- 

ting of  monk  and  prince, 
130-4. 

—  —    created   by  sculptors  of  N. 

W.  India  24. 

—  —  date  of,  in  Amaravatl  1 16, 
Burmah  115,  Cambodia  115, 
Ceylon  11 5 -6,  China  115,  Gan- 
dhara 117-8,  Java  115,  Maga- 
dha  116,  Mathura  116,  Samath 
II-6,  Siam  115,  Tibet  115. 


INDEX 


297 


Buddha  figure  declared  impossible  in  texts 
i8. 

—  —    embodies  ideals  of  Olympian 

and  Mahipurusha  134-5. 

—  —    Greek  characteristics  of  ihe, 

119-120. 

—  —    Greekoriginof  the,EssayIV. 

—  —    Indo-Greek  type  of,  7. 

—  —    oldest  descriptions   of    the, 

119. 

—  —    omitted  in  scenes  4. 

—  —    omitted  at  Barhut  117. 

—  —   Padmasana  posture  of,  235  n. 

—  —    painted  on  cloth  234. 

—  —    proved  by  Kanishka  casket 

to  belong  to  the  i"  Cen- 
tury B.  C.  129-130. 

—  —    related     to  that   of    Christ 

135-6,  XVI. 

—    said  tobea portrait  82-3,  259. 

—  —     tonsure  omitted  from  the, 

132-3. 

—  —    uniformity  of,   112-3,    114. 

—  figured  116  n.  i  (Turfan.Khotan), 

128  (on  coin  of  i"  century  A.D), 
172  n.  I  (Takht-i-Bahai),  254- 
62  (Boro-Budar),  263  (Chandi 
Mendut),  xi  (Gandhara),  xv  (Ka- 
nishka casket),  xvi  (Gandhara), 
XX  (Ajanta),  XL,  xliii  (Boro-Bu- 
dur). 

—  footmarks  of,  iii  (AmarivatJ). 

—  Four  Promenades  of,  hinted  at  107 

(Sinchl);  figured  xxxi  (Boro- 
Budur). 

—  Gandhara  said  to  have  been  visited 

by,  122. 

—  Great  Departure  of.  See  Mahabhi- 

nishkramana. 

—  hair  cut  off  by,  jewels  abandoned 

by,  132. 

—  Hiriti  converted  by,  122. 

—  horse  of.  See  Kamhaka , 

—  life  of,  in  successive  births  35. 

—  life  of,  113. 

—  Mahibhinishkraraana  of.  SeeMahi- 

bhinishkramana. 

—  moii'fey's   offering   to,   at    VaigdlJ 

150. 


BuDHA,  mother  of.  See  Ukyi. 

—  Naga  of  Sw4t  river  converted  by, 

122. 

—  Parinirv4na  of.  See  Parinirvana. 

—  portrait  statues  of,  82-83. 

—  preaching  of,  to  the  33  gods,  figur- 

ed 163  n.  I  (Ajami). 

—  Questions  of,  to  Qiriputra  163  n.  i 

(Ajant4). 

—  relics  of,  deposited  in  eight  Sanc- 

tuaries, 147;  in  Kanishka  casket 
129,  130. 

—  relics  of,  war  of,  figured  78  (Siln- 

chl). 

—  Renunciation  of  Life  by.  See  Ayuh- 

samskara-utsarjana. 

—  return   of,    to  Kapilavastu,  figur- 

ed 93  (SancW). 

—  squire  of.  See  Chandaka. 

—  seven  steps  of,  figured  iv  (Bena- 

res). 

—  statue  of,  sandal  wood,  24  n.  i . 

—  symbolized  at  Sinchl  and  Barhut, 

19.  75. 
BuDDHAS   preceding    ^akyamuni    figured 
XXVI  (Mahomed  Nari). 

—  seven  last,   symbolized   72  (Sin- 

chl and  Barhut),  104  (Sinchl). 

—  thousand,  at  Murtuk  and  the  Great 

Miracle  160  n.  2. 

—  See  also  Qikhin,  Kagyapa,  Kanaka- 

muni,  Krakucchanda,  Prabhiita- 
ratna,    Ramasambhava,    Vi^va- 
bhfl,  Vipafyin. 
Buddhacarita,  Great  Miracle  described  in 

the,  158. 
Buddhism  in  Gandhira,  history  of,  121-5. 
Buddhist  art,  origin  of,  Essay  I. 

—       monuments  abundant   in    Gan- 
dhara 124. 
Buffaloes  figured  97-107  (Sanchl). 
BiiHLBB,  G.,  Sanchl  inscriptions  studied 

by,  66  n ,  i . 
Bull,  symbol  of  Buddha's  Birth,  21  (coins), 

I. 
Bulls  with    human    faces    figured    107 

(Sinchl). 
Burgess,  J.,  frescoes  at  Ajaiiti  described 
by,  162-163,  XX. 


2^8 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART,  & 


Burgess,  J.,  photograph  communicated  by, 

IV,  XXVI. 

Burmah,  Buddha  type  not  original  in,  115. 

CailA,  nun,  figured  234-5,  xxxvin  (Boro- 

Budur). 
CaiVjfli,  Eight  Great,  147;  Hymn  to  the, 

147  n.  2. 

Qakra.  5«elNDRA. 

Cdkravartin,  Seven  Jewels  of  a,  227. 

Qdla  tree,  symbolizing  VigvabhCl,  104 
(Sinchi). 

Calcutta  museum,  remains  of  Barhut  rai- 
ling in  the,  57. 

Cambodia,  Buddha  figure  not  original  in, 

IIS. 
Camel  figured  87  (SSnchl). 
Cammasdldka-jdtaka  narrated  44. 
Campaka  {Ndgapushpa)  flower  figured  88 

(Sinchi),  xxil-lii  (Eoro-Budur). 
Candragupta,  Gandh4ra  ceded  by  Seleu- 

kos  to,  121. 
CandraprabhA,     queen,     figured     235, 

xxxvm-ix  (Boro-Budur). 
Cankrama  figured  93  (Sinchi). 

—  symbolizing  Buddha  19  (Sanchi). 
Canoe  figured  loo  (Sinchi). 

Canvas,  painting  on,  274-5. 
Capitals,  decorations  of,  86  (Sinchi). 

—  Iranian,  87,  91  (Sinchi). 
Qaripdtra,  questions  to,  figured  163,  n. 

1  (Ajami). 

Casket  from  Kanishka  stApa  figured  xv. 

Castes,  Bodhisattva  and  the,  53. 

Catacombs,  symbols  employed  by  Chris- 
tian artists  of  the,  82. 

Caves,  Buddhist.  See  Ajanti,  Ta-t'ong-fu. 

Ceylon,  Buddha  figure  not  original  in, 
115-6. 

Chaddanta-jdtaka.  See  Shaddanta-j". 

Chair  figured  144  (Gaul  and  India). 

Chandaka,  Buddha's  squire,  figured  105 
(Sincht),  in  (Gandhira  and  Amari- 
viti),  IV  (Benares). 

Chandi  Mendut,  Hiritl  figure  from,  283-4. 

—  —        images  in  the,  262-6. 
Chariot    figured  93,    100    (Sinchi),    178 

(Barhut),  xxxvi  (Boro-Budur). 
Chartres  cathedral,  carvings  on  the,  61. 


Chavannes,  E.,  caves  of  Long-men  and 
Ta-t'ong-fu  described  by,  115, 
167  n.  I. 

—  Chinese  statue  interpreted  by,  l. 

—  photograph  furnished  by,  xxi. 

—  Shaddanta-jitaka    translated    firom 

Chinese  texts  by,  188  and  n.  2, 

190. 

Chignon,  Brahmanic,  figured  97,  175  and 

n.  2,  xxv-vi(Gandhira),  xxxiv,  xxxvii 

(Boro-Budur). 

Child  figured  139-40  (Gaul),  141 -2  (Gan- 

dhara). 
Children,  goddess  of.  See  Hiritl. 
China,  Buddha  figure  not  original  in,  115. 

—  Hiritl  figure  in,  286-7. 

Christ  figure  based  on  Lateran  Sophocles 
156. 

—  —      related    to    that  of  Buddha 

135-6,    XVI. 

Christian  art,  Hellenistic  origin  of,  290-1. 

—  —       juxtaposition     of    incidents 

in,  83. 

—  —      symbols    employed   by,   in 

Catacombs  82. 
(^ibi-jdtdka  figured   230-1,    xxxvi    (Boro- 
Budur). 

—  localized  in  Gandhira,  123. 
CiKHANDiN,  son   of  Rudriyana,    figured 

235-7  (Boro-Budur). 
QiKHiN    symbolized    by    Pundarika,     104 

(Sinchi). 
CiNcA,  calumny  of,  at  ^rivasti  183. 
QiHsJia    tree    symbolizing    Krakucchanda 

104  (Sinchi). 
Civilization  of  India  represented  on  Sinchi 

sculptures  80. 
Cloud  figured  XLiv  (Chandi  Mendut). 
Cluny  museum,  signacula  in  the,  11. 
Cock,  Buddha's    birth   as.   See  Kukkuta- 

jitaka. 
Coins,  Indo-Greek,  described  125-8. 

—  —  figured  XIV. 

—  punch-marked,  discussed  by  D.  B. 

Spooner  14,  21  n.  2. 
Columns,  Persepolitan  or  Corinthian,  figu- 
red XXV  (Gandhira). 
~     supported  by  Atlantes  xxvi  (Gan- 
dhira). 


INDEX 


299 


Columns.  See  also  Capitals. 

Conception,    Buddha's,     represented   20 

(Amaravatl,  Barhut,  S4nchl). 
Conch  figured  93  (Sancht). 
Corinthian  columns  xxv  (GandhSra). 
Cornucopia    figured    xvn    (Gaul),   xviii 

(Gandh<1ra). 

—  unclean  in  India  142. 

Court  scenes  figured  xxxvi-ix  (Boro-Bu- 

dur). 
^rivasti,  Buddha's  birth  as  son  of  citizen 
of,  54. 

—  Cinc4's  calumny  at,  183. 

—  figure   (personified)  of,  175,  xxvii 

(Gandhira). 

—  figured  239  (Boro-Budur). 

—  Great  Miracle  at.  See  Essay  VI. 

—  Jetavana   scenes  figured    77   n.    i 

(Sinchi).  See  Jetavana. 

—  Sundart's  assassination  at,  183. 
gRi  (?)  figured  70  and  n.  I,  88  (Stochi). 
Crocodile  figured  100  (Sinchi). 
^UDDHODANA,  departure  of,  from  Kapila- 

vastu  figured  93  (SanchJ). 

Cuirass  figured  xxxvi  (Boro-Budur). 

CundA  figured  264.5,  266,  xLiv  (Chandi 
Mendut). 

CuNGA  dynasty  mentioned  in  Barhut  in- 
scription 4,  34. 

Cupid  garland-bearers  figured  xv  (Kanishka 
casket),  xxv  CGandhira). 

fvETAKETU  figured  xxxiv  (Boro-Budur). 

Qydma-jdtaka  figured  74  n.  2  (Sinch!). 

—  localized  in  Gandhira  123. 
^yAmAka,  companion  of  Mahikatyiyana, 

figured  239  (Boro-Budur). 

Ddbhhapuppha-jdtaka  narrated  44-5. 

Dancers  figured  91  (Sinch!). 

Davids,  T.  W.  Rhys,   Twin  Miracle  as 

viewed  by,  157. 
Decorative  motifs  at  Sincht  69,  85-90. 

—  —      hard  to  distinguish  from 

Buddhist  scenes   84. 

—  —      imported    from    Persia 

by   Iranian     artisans 
81-2. 
Deer  figured  xxix  (Amar4vatt). 
—    See  also  Antelope,  Gazelle. 


Demetrios,  coin  of,  126. 
Demi-gods  figured  71  (Stochl). 
Departure,  Buddha's    Great.    See   Mahi- 

bhinishkramana. 
Devadatta,  monkey  incarnation  of,  43-4. 
Devdvatdra  figured  163  (Ajanti),  163  n.  i 
(Barhut),  xix  (Sirnath). 

—  localized  at  Kanyakubja  (Fa-t'ien), 

Kapitha  (Hiuan-tsang),  or  S4hka- 
?ya  (Divyavadina  and  Fa-hien) 
149  n.  I. 
Dharmacakrapravartana    confused    with 
Great  Miracle  169  n.  1. 

—  figured  16  (Sinchi),  iv  (Gandhira 

and  Amaravatl),  xix  (S4rn4th). 

—  symbolized  by  wheel  148  n   2,  11. 
Dhoti  figured  85,  89,  XL  (Gandhira). 
DhritarAshtra,  Gandharva  king,  figured 

85  (Sanchl'). 
Z)i)'(fB(-S«ddAflfigured256  /(Boro-Budur). 

—  images  in  Batavia  museum  267. 

—  See  Akshobhya,  Amitabha,  Amo- 

ghasiddhi,  Ratnasambhava,  Vai- 

rocana. 
Dion,  father  of  Heliodoros,  82. 
Disc  figured  227-8  (Boro-Budur), 
Divydvaddna,   Avalokite^vara  and  Manju- 

jri  wanting  in  the,  178. 

—  extracts  of  Mtila-Sarvistividin  Vi- 

naya  in  the,  151  n.  2,  223,  253. 

—  followed   by    sculptors    of    Boro- 

Budur  223-4,225-6,  253. 

—  Great  Miracle  narrated  in  the,  151, 

173- 

—  Great  Miracle  described  as  neces- 

sary act  of  Buddha  by,  151. 

—  groups  together  Birth,  Bodhi,  First 

Preaching    and   Death  of  Bud- 
dha 148  n.  I. 

—  Maitrakanyaka    story    narrated    in 

the,  244  n.  2. 

—  MandhStar   story  narrated  in  the, 

225-30. 

—  Paficika  named  in  the,  174  n.  5. 

—  Rudriyana  story  narrated   in   the, 

251-40. 

—  TwinMiracle  narrated  in  the,  156-9. 
Dog  figured  107  (Slnchl). 

Dog-tooth  ornament  xxv  (Gandh4ra). 


}00 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART,  & 


Domestic  life,  scenes  from,  80,  95  (Sin- 

ch'i). 
Domoko,  Hiriti  figure  from,  285-6. 
Donors  to  Sanchi  stilpa  named  67. 
Dragon  figured  L  (China). 
Driver  of  chariot  figured  93  (Sanchi). 
Drum  figured  93  (Sanchi). 
Druma,    Kinnara    king,     figured    221-2 

(Bore  Budur). 
Do  Hamel,  Constant,  story  of,  49. 
Dubhiyamakkata-jdtaia  narrated  43-4. 
Dvdrapdla  figured  71  (Sanchi),  xlii  (Boro- 

Budur). 
D^ang-hun,    Great   Miracle    narrated  in 

the,  161  n.  2. 

Earrings  figured  89  (Sanchi),  144. 
Edification,  increasing,  as  test  of  date  in 

religious  tales,  191-2. 
EKAgRlNGA.  See  Rishyafringa. 
Elapatra,  visit  of,  to  Buddha  figured  19 

(Barhut). 
Elephant,  Buddha's  birth  as,   37-39,  186. 

—  Buddha's   conception  in  form  of, 

figured  92  (Barhut  and  Sinchi). 

—  figured  45   (Barhut),  86,    88,   90, 

97  (Sanchi),  163,  164  n.  i 
(Ajanta),  2278,  234  (Boro-Bu- 
dur),  XIX  (Sarnith),  jcxviii  (Bar- 
hut), XXIX  (Barhut  and  Amara- 
vati),  XXX  (Karamir  hill  and 
Ajanta). 

—  goad  for,  figured  86  (Sanchi). 

—  savage,  tamed  by  Buddha  150. 

—  six-tusked.  See  Shaddanta-jStaka. 

—  symbolizing  Buddha's  birth  20  n.  2. 

—  symbolizing  Buddha's    conception 

21,  I. 

—  wild,  figured  88  (Sanchi). 

Erp,  Major  van,  Boro-Budur  conservation 
work  under,  206  n.  i,  xxxi. 

—  Boro-Budur  drawings  executed  by, 

210. 

—  photograph  communicated  by,  xxxii, 

XLIII,   XLIV. 

Esperandieu,  E.,  stereotypes  lent  by.xvn. 

—  work  of,  on  Gallic  bas-reliefs  139-41. 
Eugenia  jambu.  See  Jambu  tree. 
Eukratides  revolts  against  Demetriosi26. 


European  literature,  borrowing  from  India 

by,  50. 
Existences,  previous,  of  Buddha.  See  J4- 

taka. 

Fa-hien,  Great  Miracle notnarrated by,  183. 

—  Mahacaitya  at   QtivaiStX   seen    by, 

183  n. 

Fairy.  See  Yaksha. 

Fan  figured  95  (Sinchl),  xxxv  (Boro-Bu- 
dur). 

Fa-t'ien,  Great  Miracle  associated  with  Je- 
tavana  by,  149  n.  2. 

Feer,  L.,  Shaddanta-jitaka  discussed  by, 
187,  193  n.  I. 

Fell,  Capt.,  SSnchl  stflpa  visited  by,  63. 

Fergusson  J.,  view  of,  concerning  Indian 
sculptures  and  texts  186. 

Ficus  glomerata.  See  Udumbara. 

—  indica.  See  Nyagrodha. 

—  religiosa.  See  Afvattha. 
Fig  tree.  See  Bodhi-tree. 

Fire  cauldron  figured  98  (Sanchi). 
Fishes  in  pond  figured  xxviii  (Gandhara). 
Flagstaff  figured  90  (Sanchi) . 
Florence,  baptistery  of,  scenes  on  the,  83. 
Flowers,    garlands   of,    xxiv-xxv    (Gan- 
dhira). 

—  rain  of,  xxii  (Boro-Budur),  xxiv, 

xxviii  (Gandhara). 

Flute  figured  93  (Sdnchl). 

Fly-ftapper  figured,  93,  105  (Sanchi),  xix 
(Sarnith),  xxi  (Ajanta),  xxii, 
XXVIII  (Boro-Budur),  xxix  (Ama- 
ravatl),  xxxv  (Boro-Budur). 

—  holders,  Brahma  and  Indra  as,  165 

(Ajanta),  168  (Western  India). 
Fortune,  Indian.  See  Qri. 
Francis,  H.,  jataka  translation  by,  critici- 
zed 202,  n.  I. 
Fresco  painting.  See  Painting. 

Ganda,  Gandamba,  as  name  of  gardener, 

152,  n.  !.■■ 
Gandhara  art,  Greek  details  of,  145-6. 

—  —        Greek  origin  of,  145-6. 

—  bas-reliefs  from,  date  of,  190. 

—  Buddha  said  to  have  visited,  122. 

—  Buddhism  in,  history  of,  121-5. 


INDEX 


joi 


Gandh&ra,  Buddhist  monuments  numerous 
in,  124-5. 

—  ceded  by  Seleukos  to  Candragupta, 

121. 

—  cities  of,  118. 

—  columns  in  Corinthian  or  Persepoli- 

tan  style  in,  xxv. 

—  conversion  of,  by  MadhyJntika  122 

—  frontier  country  under  Ajoka,  121 

—  Greeks  in,  125-8. 

—  Hariti  story  localized  in,  122. 

—  jitaka  scenes  rare  in,  26. 

—  jatakas  localized  in,  123. 

—  legendary  scenes  numerous  in,  26. 

—  Madhyantika  apostle  of,  122. 

—  Maliayilna  flourishing  in,    125. 

—  monasteries  (1000)  of,  124. 

—  Rishya^ringa-j^taka  localized  in,  48. 

—  sculptures  from,  iii,xv,  xvi,  xviii, 

xxiv-vm,  XXX,  XLvn. 

—  Shaddanta-jataka    figured   in,    39, 

188,  195-6. 

—  Tutelary  Pair  commonly  worship- 

ped and  figured  in,  141-2,  xviii. 

—  See    also    Karamar  Hill,    Kharkia, 

Mekha-Sandha,  Peshawar,  Sahri- 
Bahlol,  Takht-i-Bahai,  Taxila. 
Gandharvas  as  decorative  figures  85  (San- 
chl). 

—  king  of  the.  Sie  Dhritar4shtra. 
Gardener,    story    of.    See   AramadOsaka- 

jitaka. 
Gargoyles  for  carrying  off  water  xxxi(Boro- 

Budur). 
Garland  as  decorative  motif,  85  (Sinchl). 

—  figured  170-2,   172  n.  i  (Takht-i- 

Bahai),    xxiv-vi,    XXVIII   (Gan- 
dh4ra),  xxviii  (Barhut). 

—  serpentine,  in  sculpture,  34. 
Garments,    rain  of,   figured   228,   xxxvi  — 

(Boro-Budur). 
Garuda  figured  107  (SSnchl).  — 

Gate  of  Sinchl  stiipa  described  65. 
Gaul,  Tutelary  Pair  in.  See  Essay  V,  xvii.  — 

Gazelle  figured  iv  (Gandhira  and  Amara-  — 

vati),  xix  (Simath). 

—  See  also  Antelope  and  Deer. 
General  figured  227-8  (Boro-Budur). 
Genius  figured  71,  80  (SkachX). 


Genius,  flying,  figured  xxiii(Magadha  and 
Kudi),  xxvii-viii  (Gandhira), 
See  also  Yaksha . 

Getty,  Henry  H.,  photographs  communi- 
cated by,  XLix. 

Girl,  Jade,  figured  l  (China). 

Goat  figured  87  (Sinchi) . 

Gods,  Fifteen,  figured  xl  (Boro-Budur). 

—  Thirty-three,  Buddha's  preaching  to 
the,  19,  163  n.  I. 

—  who  dispose  of  the  creations  of 
themselves  and  others,  92. 

Goddess  figured  xxxix  (Boro-Budur). 
Gold,  shower  of,  figured  228  (Barhut). 
Goldsmith  figured  246  (Boro-Budur). 
GoLOUBEW,  v.,  photograph  communicated 

by,  IV. 
Gopa.  See  Ya^odi. 
GosANZE,  Japanese  name  of  Trailokyavi- 

jaya  (q,  v.),  268. 
Greek  coins  126-8,  figured  xiv. 

—  influence  on  art  at  Sinchi  82. 

—  invasion  of  India  and  influence  in 
Gandhira  125-8. 

—  source  of  Christian  and  late  Bud- 
dhist art  290  I 

GridhrakCita,  Saddharraapundarika  associa- 
ted with  the,  149  n.  2. 

Griffiths,  J.,  Shaddanta-jataki fresco  des- 
cribed by,  195  . 

Griffons  figured  94  (Sanchl). 

Groneman,  J.,  Guide  to  Boro-Budur  by, 
215. 

—  Maitrakanyaka-jitaka  verified  at 
Boro-Budur  by,  215  and  a.  2, 
243-4. 

Grouping  of  sculptured  scenes  77. 

Grunwedel,  a.,  Buddhist  heavens  detec- 
ted in  sculpture  by,  71. 
frescoes  of  Murtuk  reproduced  by, 
160  n.  2. 

—  Maitrakanyaka    figures    compared 

by,  244  n.  I. 

—  photograph  communicated  by,  XVIII. 

—  sculptures  at  Sanchi  identified  by, 
71,  76. 

Guardians  of  sanctuary.  See  Dvarapila. 
Guides,  Mess  of  the,  Gandhara  sculptures 
in,  119,  XI. 

24* 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART.  & 


302 

Guimet  Museum,  Sanchi  stuoa   moulding 

in  the,  92. 
Guitar,  boy  playing,  figured  274. 

Halaka,  a  hunter,  218  9. 
Halo  of  Buddhas  172. 

—  figured  173  n.   i,  xxvii  (Gandhlra). 

—  See  also  Aureole,  Nimbus 
Hamsa-jdtaka  figured  37  (Barhut). 
HaritI,  the  Buddhist  Madonna,   279-qi. 

—  converted    by    Buddha    122,    2S0. 

—  figure  from  Chandi  Mendut,  285-'!. 

—  —  Doraoko  28,-6. 

—  —  Annam  287-8. 

—  —  China  286-7. 

—  —  Japan  287. 

—  —  universally  found  in  Bud- 

dhist countries  290. 

—  figured  frontispiece   (YAr-Khoto), 

XLV  (Domoko) ,  xviii  ,xlvii,xlviii 
(Gandhara),  XLIX  (Japan),  L 
(China), 

—  images  of,  in  all  Indian  monaste- 

ries 281. 
~-  —  described   by   Yi-tsing 

282. 

—  originally    an   ogress,    goddess    of 

smallpox,  142,280-1,  XLIX. 

—  reminiscence    of   worship    of,    in 

Gandhara  122,  282. 

—  See  also  Tutelary  Pair. 
Harmikd,  part  of  stupa,  33. 
Harp  figured  49  (Barhut). 

Harsha  QIlAditya,  poem  of,   147  n.  2. 
Hastinapura,  capital  of  northern  Pancala, 

220-1. 
HayagrIva,  image  of,  in  Batavia  Museum 

267. 
Head-dress,    Brahmanical.    See  Chignon. 
Heaven,  Akanishtha.  See  Akanishtha. 

—  Buddhist,    figured   71,    91    (S4n- 

chi),  72  (Barhut), 

—  Descent  from.  See  Devivatira. 

—  Kamavacara,  figured  103  (Sanchi). 

—  Mara's,  figured  92  (Sanchi). 

—  Tushita.  See  Tushita. 
HELtoDOROS,  column  of,  at  Vidi^i,  82. 
Hell,  town  of,  figured  246-7  (Boro-Bu- 

dur). 


Herald   figured    93   (Sanchi),  229  (Boro- 

Budur) 
Hermit  figured  80,  98  (Sanchi). 

—  See  also  Arada,  Ascetic,  Brahman, 

Kaf  yapa . 
Hermitage,    Brahmanic,     figured  xxxvii 
(Boro  Budur). 

—  life  of  a,  figured  98  (S4nchl), 
Himalaya,  scene  in  the,  219. 

HiRU,  minister  of  Rudrayana,  238-40. 
Hiruka,  foundation  of,  240. 
HiUAN-TSANG,  Gandhara  monasteries  esti- 
mated at  I  000  by,  124, 

—  Great  Miracle  disregarded -by,   185. 

—  Mahacaitya    at    Qravasti   seen    by, 

183  n. 

—  Rishya^ringa  story  related  by,  48. 

—  Vajrasana  statue  described  by,  259- 

60. 
Honeysuckle  figured  87,  89  (Sanchi). 
Horse,  Buddha's.  See  Kanthaka. 

—  figured  93  (Sanchi),  163  (Ajanta), 

227-8  (Boro-Budur),xxvni (Bar- 
hut), xxxvi  (Boro-Budur). 

—  symbolizing  Great   Departure    148 

n.  2,  I. 
Hoti-Mardan,  Gandhara  statues  in,  119. 
HuBER,  E.,  Divyavadana  traced  to  Mula- 

Sarvisiivadin  Vinayaby,  151,  223 

n    2,  253. 

—  LCihasudatta  and  his  wife  discussed 

by,  174  n    1. 

—  Roruka  localized  by,  238  n    2. 

—  Rudrayana  story  analysed  by,  23 1-2. 

—  Sutralamkara  (Chinese)  in  10  chap- 

ters noted  by,  200. 
Humboldt,  W.  von,  Dhyani- Buddhas  de- 
tected at  Boro-Budur  by,  256. 
Hut,  Brahmanical,  figured  97  (Sanchi). 

Idolatry,  Buddhism  not  originated  in  mi- 
lieu hostile  to,  9 

—  not  mentioned  in  Veda  9. 

—  rare  in  ancient  India  8 
Idols  mentioned  by  Pataiijali  9. 
Images,    anthropomorphic.    See    Idolatry. 

—  carved  at  Sanchi  69. 

—  Indian,  discussed  by  Dr.    Konow 

9  n.  2. 


INDEX 


303 


Indian  art,  history  of  ancient  school  of,  t8. 

—  life,  details  of,  illustrated  by  sculp- 

tures 29. 
Indra,  Buddha  visited  by,  19  (Barhut). 

—  figured  96  (Sincht),   162  and  n.  2 

(Ajantd),  170  n.  2,  175  n.  2  (in 
Great  Miracle),  177  (m  Devava- 
tira),  179  (Barhut),  229-jo,  232 
(Boro-Budur),  iv  (Benares),  xv 
(on  Kanishka  casket),  xix  (Sar- 
nath),  XXIV  (Gandhira). 

—  heaven   of,  figured   91    (SSnchi). 

—  steals  ascetics'  food  46. 
Indramitra  mentioned  in  inscription  at 

Bodh-Gaya  4. 
Indraprastha,  Vidhura-jitaka  localized  at, 

5S- 
Inscriptions     54,    92    (Barhut),    66,    86 

(SSnchl). 
Ionic  capital,  volute  of,  imitated  at  S4n- 

chi  87. 
Iranian  artisans  in  India  82. 

—  capitals  on  gate  of  SinchJ  9  r . 

—  influence  in  Indian  art  69,  87,  91. 
Isis  suckling  Horus,  images  of,  288. 
Ivory-carvers  of  Vidi^a  67. 

Jackal  and  otters,  story  of  the.  See  Dabbha- 

puppha-j4taka  44-5. 
Jain  monk  (Digambara)  figured  163  (Ajan- 

ta). 
Jambu  tree   at   Kapilavastu    figured    106 

(Sinchl). 
Janmacitraka,  the  nSga,  218. 
Japan,  Haritl  figure  in,  287. 
Jdtaka,  antelope.  See  Kurunga-jitaka. 

—  AramadCsaka.  See  Araraa". 

—  Asadisa.  See  Asadisa" 

—  Bhallatlya.  Su  Kinnara". 

—  Bhisa.  See  Bhisa. 

—  Cammasdtaka.  See  Camraas4taka°. 

—  ^ibi.  See  ^ibi". 

—  cock.  See  Kukkuta". 

—  Dabbhapuppha  5«Dabbhapuppha°. 

—  Ddbhiyamakkata.  See  Dtibhiyamak- 

kata°r 

—  elephant.  See  Kakkata",  Latukika", 

Shaddanta". 

—  Hamsa,  See  Hamsa" 


jdtaha  Kapota  See  Kapota". 

—  Kinnara.5(;«  Kinnara" 

—  Kukkuta.  Sre  Kukkuta". 

—  Kuruiiga.  See  Kurunga". 

-      Mahijanaka    See  Mahajanaka". 

—  Mah4kapi.  See  Mahdkapi". 

—  monkey.  5«Maliakapi°. 

—  pigeon.  5c«  Kapota". 
quail.  See  Latukika". 

—  Rishyajririga.  See  Rishyajringa" 

—  Ruru.  See  Ruru" 

—  Shaddanta.  See  Sliaddanta" 

—  stag.  See  Riiru". 

—  swan.  See  Hamsa". 

—  Temiya.  See  Temiya". 

—  Unicorn.  5«  Rishyafringa". 

—  Vi^vantara.  See  Vifvantara". 

—  Vidhura.  See  Vidhura". 
Jdtakas  at  Barhut.  See  Essay  II. 

—  figured   23    (Barhut  and   Sinchi), 

40  (Barhut),  v-vi  (Barhut). 

—  nature  of  the,  30. 

—  rarely  figured  in  Gandhira  26. 
Jdtaka  book,  age  of  verses  and  prose,  189- 

90,  196-7,  201-6. 

—  Great  Miracle  in  Introduction  to, 

152  and  n.  i. 

—  Maitrakanyaka  story  compared  with 

the,  244  II.  2. 
M4ndh4travadana    compared    with 
the,  225  n.  I. 

—  not  complete  58. 

—  Twin  Miraclein  Introduction  to,  155. 
JdtakamdlU,  Twin  Miracle  in  the,  155. 
Java,  Buddha  figure  not  original  in,  115. 

—  Buddhist  art  in,  205. 

—  Buddhist  images  of,  resemble  those 

of  India  269. 

—  routes  followed  by  Indian  civiliza- 

tion to,  283. 

—  5«alsoBatavia,  Boro-Budur,  Chandi 

Mendut. 
Jetavana,   Great  Miracle  not  localized  in 
the,  149  and  n   2. 

—  Great     Miracle     represented     by 

wheel  in  front  of  the,  180  n.  i. 

—  Mahaprajniparamita    associated 

with  the,  149  n.  2. 

—  scenes  in  the,  77  n.  i. 


304 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART,  & 


Jewels,  belt  of,  figured  89  (SdncW). 

—  Buddha  divests  himself  of  his,  106. 

—  figured  227-8  (Boro-Budur). 

—  seven,  of  a  cakravartin  227. 
Juxtaposition   of  incidents  in    art  74,   83 

(Buddhist  and  Christian),  98  (Sanchi). 
Jyotipala,  vy4karana  of.figured  xxvi  (Gan- 
dh4ra). 

KAgvAPA,  conversion  of,  figured  76,  97, 
100  (Sanchi). 

—  Buddha  figured  xxvi  (Gandh4ra). 

—  —       symbolized   by  Nyagrodha 
tree  104  (SanchJ). 

Kakanada.  See  SSnchi. 
Kalpadrumdvaddna,  date  of  the,  190. 

—  Shaddanta-jataka    in    the,     187-8, 

194, 196,  198,  204  n 
Kdmdvacara  heaven  figured  103  (S4nchl). 
Kanakamuni    symbolized   by    Udumbara 

tree  104  (SSnchi). 
Kanishka,  Clovis  of  Northern  India,  128. 

—  coin   of,  with   figure  of  Buddha 

128. 

—  figured  129-30,  XV  (on  casket). 

—  Peshawar  winter  capital  of,  129. 

—  stiipa,  and  casket  of,  i28-3o,  xiv 

XV. 

Kanjur,  Mandh4travadana  according  to  the 

225  n.  I. 
Kanthaka,  Buddha's  horse,  figured   105 

(Sinchl),  III  (Gandh^ra  and  Amaravatl), 

IV  (Benares). 
Kanyakubja,  Devavatira  localized  at,  149. 
Kapilavastu,   deity   of,   figured    175,   in 
(Gandhira  and  Araaravati). 

—  departure  of  king  from,  figured  93 

(SJnchi). 

—  figured  105  (Sanchi), 

—  gate  of,  figured  1 3 . 

—  Jambu  tree  near,  figured  106  (San- 

chi). 

—  Mahabhinishkramana  symbolizing, 

148. 

—  NyagrodharHraa    at    gate    of.    See 

Nyagrodh4r4ma. 

—  scenes  at,  figured  77,  n.  i  (Sinchl), 

m. 

—  signacula  from,  12. 


Kapilavastu.  See  also  Lumbinl. 
Kapitha,  Devavatara  localized  at,  149. 
Kapola-jdiaka  figured  37  (Barhut). 
Karamar  hill,  Shaddanta-jataka  figured  at, 

XXX 

Karli,  Great  Miracle  confused  with  Dhar- 

macakrapravartana  at,  169  n.  I. 
Karma,  law  of,  31. 

Kaujilmbi,  Buddha  portrait  statue  at.  259. 
—    unimportance  of,   in  Buddhist  le- 
gend, 149. 
Khara  village   mentioned  in    Rudrayana 

story  238. 
Kharkai,  Buddha  head  from,  Xi. 
King  figured  100  (SanchJ),  232,  xxxvi-xl 
(Boro-Budur). 
—     See  also  A(ioksL,  Ajatagatru,  Bimbisara, 
^uddhodana,  ^unga,  Dhritarish- 
tra,    Druma,    Kanishka,    Mahaja- 
naka,  Mandhatar,  Milinda,  Prase- 
najit,  Royalty. 
Kings,  Four  Great.  See  Lokapala. 
Kinnara  figured   219-24  (Boro-Budur),  11 
(Sanchi). 

—  form  of,  discussed  241  and  n,  2,  242. 

—  jdtaka  figured  5  3  (Barhut  and  Boro- 

Budur),  241,  XLi  (Boro-Budur). 

—  king.  See  Druma. 

Kinnari  Manohara,  story  of  the,  219-24. 
Ki-si-MO-jiN,  the  Japanese  Hariti,  286-7. 

—  figured  XLix. 

Kondivt6,  Great  Miracle  figured  at,  168. 

Konkan,  Great  Miracle  figured  in  the.  182. 

KoNOw  S.,  images  in  ancient  India  dis- 
cussed by,  9  n.  2. 

Kosala  king  and  queen  reconciled  by  Bud- 
dha 53. 

Krakccchakda  symbolized  by  Gir'sha 
tree  104  (Sinchl). 

Krishna  suckled  by  Devaki,  images  of, 
288. 

Krityd  effigy,  in  magic  rites  8  n.   i . 

Kshatriya.  Brahman  inferior  to,  according 
to  BuJdhiys  54. 

—  Buddha's  birth  as,  55, 
Kshemendra,  M4ndhatar  story  narrated  by, 

225  6. 

—  M(ila-Sarvastiv4din  canon  followed 

by,  151  n.  2,204  n. 


Kdan-yin  figured  l  (China). 
Ku^inagara,  signacula  from,  12 

—  stiipa,  Buddha's  death  commemo- 

rated by,  12. 
Kud4  caves,  Great  Miracle  figured  in  the, 
168. 

—  sculptures  from  the,  xxiii. 
Kuikuta-jdtaka  figured  57  (Barhut). 
Kurunga-jdtdka  figured  40  (Barhut). 
KuvERA  not  one  of  the  Tutelary  Pair  141 . 

—  statuette  in   Batavia  museum  267. 
KwEl-TSEU-MU-CHEN,  the   Chinese  Hiriti, 

286. 

La  Fontaine,  j4taka  tales  reflected  by,  45, 
48,  50. 

Lahhana,  sign  of  recognition  for  identi- 
fying sculptures,  176,  181. 

LaUtdkshepa  posture  figured  263  (Chandi 
Mendut). 

Lalita-vistara  versions  of  stories  on  bas- 
reliefs  214  (Boro-Budur). 

—  Shaddanta-j^taka  mentioned  in  the, 

192. 
Lamaist  images,  symbols  of  Buddha  on, 

26. 
Lambaka,  scene  at,   figured   239  (Boro- 
Budur). 
Lance  figured  145,  xvliii  (Sahri-Bahlol) 
Latukika-jdtaia  narrated  28. 
Le  Coq,  a.  von,  Haritl  painting  discus- 
sed by,  273,  275,  276  n.  I 

—  photograph  communicated  by,  xviii. 
Leemans,  jitaka  scenes  described  by,  217, 

222  (Boro-Budur). 

—  Buddha  statue  described  by,  258-9 

(Boro-Budur). 

Legendary  scenes  figured  90  (S4ncht). 

Leggings  figured  144. 

Leroux,  E.,  stereotypes  lent  by,  vii-x. 

Letter  figured  232  (Boro-Budur). 

L6vi,  S.  ,  Bodhisattv4vad4nakalpalat4  pas- 
sage emended  by,  174  n.  5. 

—  crisis  in  Indian  conscience  at  the 

time  of  Afvaghosha  described  by, 
204. 

—  Divyavaddna  traced  to  Mdla-Sarvils- 

tivadin  Vinaya  by,  iji  n.  2,  223 
n.  2,  253. 


INDEX 

Lfivt, 


30s 


Hiuan-tsang  shown  to  repro- 
duce SQtrilamk4ra  version  of 
Shaddanta  jataka  by,  199  n.  i. 

—  Kanishka  compared  to  Clovis  by, 

128. 

—  poem  of  Harsha  restored  by,    147 

n.  2. 

—  references  concerning  Panthaka  sup- 

plied by,  157  n.  3. 
Lieu-tu-1  si-king,  date  of  the,  190. 

—  Shaddanta-jatakainthe,  187-8,  196, 

198. 
Life,  Buddha's  renunciation  of.  See  Ayuh- 

saipskira-utsarj  ana . 
Lilinj.  See  Nairaiijana. 
Lion,   Buddha  symbolized  by,  t. 

—  figured  87,  90,  107  (Sanchl). 

—  horned,  figured  87  (Sinchi). 

—  winged,  figured  87  (SSnchl) 
Lion-headed  brackets  xxv(Gandhara). 
LocanA,  image  of,  in   Batavia  museum, 

267. 
Loin-cloth.  See  Dhoti. 
Lokapdlas  figured  91,  103   (Sinch!),   173 

n.  I,  174;   III  (Gandhara  and  Amar4- 

vati),  XX VI- VII  (Gandhira). 
Long-men,  date  of  caves  in  pass  of,  115. 

—  Great  Miracle  figured  in  caves  of, 

167  n.  I. 
Loriyin-Tangai,  sculptures  from,  xxiv-v. 
Lotus  as  attribute  xxri,  255,  264-6. 

—  as  decoration  85  (Sanchl). 

—  figured  86,  88,   89   (Sinchl),   172 

n.  I  (Takht-i-Bahai),  173;  xv 
(Kanishka  casket),  xix  (Sirnath), 
xxvii  (Gandhara),  l  (China). 

—  footstool  figured  165  (Ajanti),  167 

(Magadha),  168  (Western  India), 
XXI  (Ajanta). 

—  seat  figured  163,  170-2.   173,  176, 

xxni-viii. 

—  stalks  as  food  ot  ascetics  46. 

—  symbolizing  Buddha's  birth  21. 

—  —  miraculous    birth    21 

n.  2,  I. 

—  —  seven  steps  of  Buddha 

XIX  (Sarnath). 
LiJDERS,  H. ,  S6traiamkara  fragments  identi- 
fied by,  173-4. 


3o6 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART,  & 


LoHASUDATTA  figured  173  4  ;  XXIV,  XXVIII 

(Gandhara) . 
Lumbinl,  Buddha's  birth  at,  13. 

—  ^uddhodana's  visit  to,  93. 

Macdonell,  A.  A.,  photograph  communi- 
cated by,  III. 
MadhyAntika,  apostle  of  Gandhara,  122. 
Madonna,  Buddhist.  See  Essay  IX, 

—  —        See  Haritt. 

—  figure  explained  by    M.    Millet 

XLVI. 

—  figured  XLVli  (Carolingian  and 

Coptic) 
Magadha,  Buddha  figures  from,  date  of, 
116. 

—  capital  of.  See  Rajagriha. 

—  Great  Miracle  figured  in,  167  8. 

—  See  also  Antagiri,  Bodh-Gaya,  Gri- 

dhrakuta,  Mahabodhi. 
Mahdhhinishhramana  figured iii  (Gandhara), 
IV  (Amaravati  and  Benares),  xxvi 
(Mohamed-Nari). 

—  represented  5  (Sanchi),  20  (Amara- 

vati), 21  n.  I  (Benares),  105  (San- 
chi). 

—  symbolized  by  horse  14.8  n.  2,  i. 
Mahabodhi,  Buddhist    portrait   statue   at, 

259-62. 

—  See  also  Bodh-Gaya. 
Mahdjanaka-jdtaka  figured  52  (Barhut). 
Mahdkapi-jdtaka  figured  41   (Barhut),    74 

n.  2  (Sanchi). 
MahAkatyayana  figured   234    (Boro-Bu- 

dur). 
Mahdparinibbdna-sutta   quoted  concerning 
the  four  sacred  places  148  and  n. 
Mahdprajiidpdramitd-sutra  associated  with 

the  Jetavana  149  n.  2. 
Mahdprdtihdrya  associated  with  the  Jeta- 
vana 149  n   2. 

—  confused  with  the   Dharmacakra- 

pravartana  169  n.  i. 

—  confused   with   the   Twin  Miracle 

156-8. 

—  figured  160  and  n.  2, 162-5  (AjantJ), 

165-6  (Boro-Budur),  166-7  (Ta- 
t'ong-fu),  167  n.  I  (Long-men), 
167-8 (Magadha),  168  (Kondivti, 


Kuda,  Western  India),  172  n  2 
(Takht-i-Bahai,  Rawak),  178-80 
(Barhut),  xix-xxviii. 

—  narrated  159-62. 

—  narrated  in  Buddhacarita   158,  Di- 

vyavadana  151,   173,  Jataka  and 
Mahavamsa  152  and  n.  1. 

—  preferred  to  Twin  Miracle  in  Sar- 

nath  stele  153-6. 

—  reasons  for    tardy   recognition    of, 

182-4. 

—  symbolized  by  wheel  in  front  of  Je- 

tavana 180  n    I. 

—  versions  of  the,  classified  180-2. 
Mahdpurusha,  ideal  of,  embodied  in  Bud- 
dha figure  134-3. 

Mahdvamsa,  conversion  of  Gandhara  nar- 
rated by,  122. 

—  Great  Miracle  according  to  the,  1 5  2 

and  n.  i. 

—  Twin    Miracle   according    to    the, 

156. 
Mahdvastu,  Avalokitegvara  and  Mafijujri 
wanting  in  the,  178. 

—  Twin    Miracle    according   to    the, 

155-7- 
Mahdydna,  part  played  by  Gandh4rian  doc- 
tors in,  125. 
Maitrakanyaka  story  figured  243  -7,  xli-ii 
(Boro-Budur). 

—     —    narrated  in  Avadinajataka,  etc., 
244  n.  2. 
Maitreya  figured  264  (Chandi  Mendut), 
xxii    (Boro-Budur),  xxvi    (Mo- 
haraed-Nari). 

—  symbolized  by   Campaka  88  (San- 

chi). 

—  tree  of,  figured  105  (Sanchi). 
MakhAdeva,  Buddha's  birth  as,  55, 
Mallas,  despair  of  the,  figured  iv  (Gan- 
dhara). 

Mallet  figured  140,  144  (Gaul). 
MAndhAtAr,    story   of,    figured   224-31, 
xxxvi  (Boro-Budur). 

—  story  of,  narrated  in  DivyivadSna, 

etc.,  225-30  and  225  n.  1 . 
Mangifera.  See  Pundarika. 
Mango  tree  figured  86,  89  (Sanchi),  162 

(Ajanta). 


INDEX 


307 


Mango,  miracle  of  the,  152. 
MANjo?Rt  figured  255  (Boro-Budur),  264-6 
(Chandi  Mendut),  xxv  (Gandhdra). 

—  wanting   in    Divy4vadana,   Mahi- 

vastu,  and  Gandhira  177-8. 
Manohara,  flight  of,  figured  xxxiv  (Boro- 
Budur). 

—  story  of,  219-24. 

Mara,  assault  of,  figured  105  n.  (Sanchi), 
161  and  n.  1,  162-5  (Ajanta), 
iiiiv  (Gandhara  and  Amaravati). 
XIX  (SSrnath). 

—  heaven  of,  figured  92  (Sinchl). 
Mdradharshana   See  Mara,  assault  of. 
MARici,  statue  of,  267  (Batavia  Museum). 
Marshall.  J.-H  ,  Kanishka  stilpa  explored 

by,  129. 

—  photographs  communicated  by,  64 

n.  2,  84,  II,  VII  X,  XIX, 

—  scenes  on  stele  identified  by.   150. 
Mat,  Brahmanical,  figured  97  (Sanchi). 
Mathura,   Buddha  figures  from,  date  of, 

116. 

—  Great  Miracle  missing  at,  182. 

—  stilpa,  fragments  of  railing,  4. 

—  unimportance  of,   in  Buddhist  le- 

gend 149. 
MaudgalyAyana  figured  174. 
MAyA,  dream  of,  figured  70  and  n.  i  (?), 

Ill  (Gandh4ra  and  Amaravati),  ix  (Sin- 

chl). 
Meditation,  Buddha's  first,  5  (Bodh-Gaya). 
Mekha-Sandha  hill,  Xii. 
Melons  figured  on  ^lainting  from  Central 

Asia  274. 
Menakder,  coin  of,  127. 

—  Nigasena's    conversation  with,    6. 

—  S4gala  capital  of,  127. 
Mendicant  figured  xxxvi  (Boro-Budur). 

—  See  also  Monk. 

Merchant,  Buddha's  birth  as.  See  Camma- 

sitaka-jitaka. 
MiLiKDA,  Questions  of  King,  127. 

—  S-^e  also  Menander. 

Millet  (Gab.),  Madonna  figures  indicated 
by,  278. 

—  Madonna  figure  explained  by,  xlvi. 
Minister  figured  227  8,  229,  238-40  (Bo- 
ro-Budur). 


Minister.  See  also  Hiru,  Bhiru. 
Miracle,  Great.  5e«Mali4pr4tiharya, 

—  Twin.  See  YamakapratihSrya. 
Mithila,  Amar4  story  located  in,  51. 

—  Mahijanaka  story  located  in,  52. 

—  See  also  Yavamajjhaka. 
Mohamed-Narl,  sculptures  from,  xxvi. 
Monasteries.    Buddhist,   Hdriti  figure    in, 

281. 

—  Buddhist,  numerous  in   Gandhira 

124. 
Monk  figure    in  composition  of  Buddha 
figure  1 3 1-4. 

—  figured    234,    239    (Boro-Budur), 

XVI  (Gandhira),  xix  (Sarnath), 
xxv  (Loriyan-Tangai), XXVI  (Gan- 
dh4ra),  xxxi,  xxxvii  (Boro-Bu- 
dur). 

—  not  figured  at  Barhut  and  Sinchi  96. 
Monkey,  Buddha's  birth  as.  See  Mahakapi- 

jitaka. 

—  Devadatta's  incarnation  as,  43-4. 

—  figured  45  (Barhut),  lOO  (Sinchl). 

—  offering    of   the,  figured   150,  xlx 

(Sarn4th). 

Moon,  crescent,  figured  172,  n.  i  (Takht- 
i-Bahai). 

Mortar  and  pestle  figured  95  (Sanchi). 

Motifs,  decorative,  borrowed  from  Persia 
81. 

Mrigad^va,  Buddha's  preaching  at  the,  13. 

Mudrd  figured  163  (Ajanta),  170  n.  2, 
181  ;  256-8  (Boro-Budur),  xv  (Kanishka 
casket),  xix  (Sirnath),  xx  (Ajanta),  xxi 
(Ta-t'ong-fu),  xxiv  (Gandhara). 

Mula-sarvdstivddin  school  prevalent  in 
Jav.i  253. 

—  Vinaya  and   the  Divydvadana  151, 

253. 
MoRDHATAR.  See  M4ndh4tar,  226. 
Murtuk,  Thousand  Buddhas  at,  160  n   2. 
Musicians,  celestial.  See  Gandharva. 

—  figured  91,  93,   100  (Sanchi),  239 

(Boro-Budur). 

Ndga,  Buddha  relics  at  Rimagraraa  guar- 
ded by,  78. 

—  Buddha's  victory   over  the  wicked, 

figured  97  (Sinchl). 


3o8 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART,  & 


Ndga  figured  167  (Magadha),  168  (West- 
ern India),  iv  (Benares),  xix 
(Sarnath),  xx  (Ajanta),  xill 
(Kud4,  Magadha),  xxv  (Loriyan- 
Taagai),  xxvi  (Mohamed-Nari), 
XLV  (Chandi  Mendut). 

—  Janmacittaka,   story    of,    218-219. 

—  of  Swat  river  converted  by  Buddha 

122. 

—  woman  in  Vidhura-jataka  55. 

—  See  also  Nanda  and  Upananda,  Ela- 

patra. 
Nagapiya,  donor  of  pillar  at  SanchJ,67-77. 
Ndga-pushpa  flower.  See  Campaka. 
Nagara-devatd   See  Town,  personification 

of. 
NAgasena,  Menander  converted  by,  6. 
Nairanjana  river  figured  96,  100. 
Nanda  and  Upananda   in  the  Great  Mi- 
racle 1 59-161. 

—  figured  167  (Magadha),  168  (Wes- 

tern India),  173,  XXIII  (Kuda 
and  Magadha)  ,  xxv  -  xxvii 
(Gaudhara). 

—  See  also  Naga. 

Nandipada  symbolizing  nativity  of  Bud- 
dha I. 

Nativity,  Buddha's.  See  Buddha,  birth  of. 

Necklace  worn  by  female  figure  89  (San- 
chi). 

Nimbus  figured  144  (Gaul  and  India)_ 
171  n.  I,  263  (in  leaf  form, 
Chandi  Mendut),  xxiii  (Maga- 
dha), xxi  (Ta-t'ong-fu),  xxv 
(Gandhara). 

—  See  also  Aureole,  Halo. 

Nun  figured  234-5  (Boro-Budur),  xxv 
(Loriyan-Tangai),  xxxviii,  xxxix 
(Boro-Budur). 

—  See  also  faila. 

Nyagrodha  tree   figured  94  (Sanchi). 

—  —     symbolizing  Kajyapa  Bud- 
^dha  104  (Sanchi). 

—  Ardma  figured  at  Sanchi  94. 


Ogress  (Hariti)  figured  xlix  (Japan). 
Oldenburg,  S.  d',  jatakas  at  Boro-Budur 

identified  by,  214  and  n. 

243-4. 


I,  215,  217, 


Olla  figured  139  40  (Gaul). 

Olympian,  ideal  of,  embodied  in  Buddha 

figure  134-5. 
Otter.  See  Dabbhapuppha-jataka,  45, 
Oxen  figured  87  (SSnchi). 

Padma.  See  Lotus. 

Padmdsana  posture,    Buddha    figures  in, 
256  (Boro-Budur). 

—  reserved  for  Buddha  {ibid.'),  235  n. 
Painting,  fresco.  See  Ajanta. 

—  in  water  colours  on  canvas  274-5. 

—  Tibetan,  XL. 

Palisade  figured  xlii  (Boro-Budur),  xliv 

(Chandi-Mendut). 
Paiicala  country  217-224. 
PAf5ciKA,  god  with  purse,  14 1-2. 

—  in  Great  Miracle  174 n.  5. 

—  figured     220    (Boro-Budur) ,    264 

(Chandi  Mendut),  xlviii  (Sahri- 
Bahlol). 

—  named  in  DivyavadSna  174  n.  5. 

—  See  also  Tutelary  Pair. 
Panthaka,  miracles  of,  157  n.  3. 
Paradise.  See  Heaven, 

Pdramitds,  or  Perfections  of  Buddha,  57. 
Parasol,  Buddha  represented  by,  19 

—  Buddha's,  in    the    heaven    of  the 

Thirty-Three  Gods  19. 

—  figured  93,  94, 95, 96,  102  (Sanchi), 

164  n.  I  (Ajanta),  170-2  (Ajanta), 
172  n.  I  (Tak)-t-i-Bahai),  xix 
(Sarnath),  xxi  "{jAJanta),  xxiv 
xxvii  and  xxviii  (Gandhara), 
XX VIII  (Barhut),  xxix  (Amari- 
vati),  xxxvi  and  xxxvii  (Boro- 
Budur). 
Parinirvdna  figured  iv  (Gandhara,  Amara- 
vati,  Benares),  xix  (Sdrnath). 

—  symbolized  by  StCipa   16,  89  (San- 

cl^O)  73.  90,  I,  n,  IV  (Amari- 
vati). 
Parnafdld.  See  Hut. 
Parrot  figured  xlvii  (Gandhira). 
Farya-nka-handha  posture  figured  97  (San- 
chi). 
Pdiali,  symbol  of  Vipa?yin,  figured  104 

(Sancht). 
Peacock  figured  88,  105  (Siiichi). 


INDEX 


309 


Perfections  of  Buddha.  Sie  P4ramita. 

Persepolitan  columns  xxv  (Gandhira). 

Persian.  See  Iranian. 

Peshawar,   Kanishka  siApa  excavated  at, 
139. 
—         Kanishlta's  -winter  capital  129. 

Physiologus,  Unicorn  story  in,  48. 

Pishi.  See  Rajoharana. 

Pigeon,    Buddha's   life   as.    See   Kapota- 
jitaka. 

Pilgrimages,  four  great,  as  aid  to  explana- 
tion of  Buddhist  art  10. 

—  four  places  of,  148. 

—  signacula  from,  11. 

PlKGALA,  H4rit!'s  youngest  son,  279284. 

—  figured  xlvl. 
Pitchers  figured  96  (Sinchi). 

Pleyte,  C.  M.  ,  Boro-Budur  sculptures  iden- 
tified by,  214  and  n.  2,  216 
n.  I. 

—  Buddha  statue   at  Boro  Budur   dis- 

cussed by,  257. 
Pond    figured  xxviii    (GandhSra),    xxix 

(AmarSvati),  xliv  (Chandi  Mendut). 
Portico  figured  in  Great  Miracle  171-179 

(Ijarhut). 

—  trapezoidal,  figured  xxv  (GandhJra). 
Portrait  statues  of  Buddha,  supposed,  82- 

83,259- 
Prauhutaratna,  Buddha,  figured  xxi(Ta- 

t'ong-fu). 
Fradakshind  ai-'-ingement  of  bas-reliefs  at 

Boro  Budur  .14-5. 
Prasenajit  figured  in  Great  Miracle  164 
n.    I,    171,    174   (Ajanta),    179 
(Barhut). 

—  sandal-wood  statue  of  Buddha  car- 

ved by,  24  n.  I. 
Preaching,  Buddha's  first.  See  Dharmaca- 
kra-pravartana. 

—  symbolized  by  wheel  90  (Sanchi). 
Prince,  figure  of,  6  (Sanchi  and  Barhut). 
Processions  of  kings  figured  80  (Sanchi). 
Promenade.  See  Cafikrama. 
Promenades,  four.  See  Buddha. 
Pruning-bill   borne  by    Brahman    ascetic 

218. 
Put)4artka  tree,  symbolizing  fikhin,  figu- 
red 104  (S4nchl), 


PuRANA   KAgvAPA  figured  164  and  n,    i 

(Ajarita). 
Purojava.  Sec  Herald. 
Purse    figured    139-40    (Gaul),    141-142 

(Gandhira),  145.6  (Gaul and  GandhSra), 

246   (Boro-Budur),  xxiv,  xxv,   xlviii 

(Gandhira). 
Purusha,  golden,  on    Brahmanic  altars  8 

and  n.  1. 
Purushapura.  See  Peshawar. 

Quail.  Buddha's  birth  as.  5m  Latukika  ja- 

taka. 
Q.UAN-AM,  the  Aunaraese,  287-8. 
Q.ueen figured  227-8,  235  sqq. ;  xxxvill  and 

xxxix  (Boro-Budur). 

Railing  figured  94,  98  (Sinchi). 

—  at  Barhut,  remains  of,  in  Calcutta 

Museum  57. 

—  stflpa  surrounded  by ,  3  3 ,6 5  (Sanchi) . 
Rijagriha,  Bimbisdra  king  of,  232  sqq. 

—  elephant  tamed  at,  1 50,  xix  (Sdr- 

nath). 

—  figured  loi  (SAnchi). 

—  importance  of,  in  early  Buddhism 

149  and  n,  2.  ' 

—  See  also  Antagiri. 
Rajoharana  figured  163  (AjantJ). 
Ram,  story  of  (Barhut).  See  Jataka. 
RAma  represented  as  brother  of  Sita  4J. 
Ramagrftma,  A(oka's  attempt  upon  Bud- 
dha's relics  at,  figured  79  (Sinchi). 

—  A{oka's  visit  to,  23. 
Ratna-cankrama.  See  Cafikrama. 
Ratnasambhava  figured  256-7  (Boro-Bu- 
dur). 

—  image  in  Batavia  Museum  267. 
Rawak,  sculptures  of,  172  n.  i. 
Relics,  Buddha's.  See  Buddha,  relics  of. 
Rheims,  people  of  (in  La  Fontaine),  50. 
Rice,  bunches  of,  gathered  in  Java  228. 
Riches,  god  of.  See  Kuvera,  Pincika. 
Riddhila-mAtA  figured  xxiv  and  xxviii, 

174  (GandhSra). 
Rishis  figured  228  (Boro-Budur). 
Rishyafringajdtaka  figured  47   (Barhut), 
74  n.  2  (Sinchi). 

—  story  located  in  Gandhira  123. 

25 


310 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART,  & 


llishyafringa-jdtaka  narrated  47-8. 

River  figured  98-100  (Sdnchl). 

Rocks  figured  xxix,  xxxvii  and  XL  (Boro- 

Budur),  L  (China). 
Roruka,  kingdom  of  RudrJyana  232  sqq. 

—  localized  by  E.  Huber  238  n.  2. 
Rosaries  figured  xxxvil  (Boro-Budur). 
Royalty,  insignia  of,  figured  91  (Sinchi). 
RudrAyana  story  narrated  in  the  Divy4- 

vadina,  analysed   by  E.   Huber, 
231-2.      ' 

—  story  figured  25 1-40  (Boro-Budur), 

xxxvn-XL  (Boro-Budur). 
Ruru-jdtaka  figured  40  (Barhut). 

Sacrifice,  instruments  of,  figured  97  (Sin- 

chi). 
Sad-dharma-pundarika  associated  by  Wou- 

k'ong  with  the  Gridhrakflfa   149  n.  2. 
S4gala,  capital  of  Menander,  127. 
Sahri-Bahlol,   excavations   at,  xin,   xiv, 

XLVIII. 

—  photographs  of,  xjii. 

—  Tutelary  Pair  from,  xltiii. 
Sambodhi.  See  Bodhi. 

S4ncW  stflpa.  See  Essay  III. 

—  —     bibliography  of  the,  83-4. 

—  —     Bodhi  figured  on  the,  102. 

—  —     Buddha    figure    wanting    on 

the,  117. 

—  —     Buddha  represented  by  Can- 

krama  on  the,  19. 

—  —     Buddha  represented  only  by 

symbols  on  the,  1 5 . 

—  —     Buddha's  Conception  figured 

on  the,  92. 

—  —    Buddhist  Heavens  figured  on 

the,  71. 

—  —    date  of  the  bas-reliefs  of,  190. 

—  —     described  by  Captain  Fell  63. 

—  —    description  of,  64. 

—  —    inscriptions  studied  by  Biih- 

ler  66  n.  i. 

—  —     Kinnaras  figured  on  the,  11. 

—  —    monks  not    figured  on    the, 

76. 

—  —    photographs  of,  vii-x. 

—  —    relics  not  discovered  in  the, 

64. 


Silnchi  stipa  repaired  by  Archaeological 
Department  64. 

—  —    sculptures,  assthetic  value  of, 

81. 

—  —    seven     traditional    Buddhas 

figured  on  the,  72. 

—  — -    Shaddanta-jataka  at,  188. 
Sandal-wood    statue   of    Buddha,    tradi- 
tions relative  to  the,  24  n.  i. 

Sahkajya,    Devivatara    at,    149-50,    177 

xix(Sarnath). 
Sarnith,  Buddha  figures  from,  date  of,  116. 

—  sculptures  from,  Essay  VI,  xix. 
SAtakani   mentioned    in    inscription    at 

Sanchi  4,  67. 
Satire  against  women  46. 
Saw  employed  in  Shaddanta -jataka  193. 
—  figured  XXIX  (Barhut  and  Araaravatl). 
Scarf  worn  by  Gandharvas  85. 
Sculptures   in    the    round   found   almost 
only  at  Sanchl  66. 

—  Indian,  more  reliable  than  texts  186. 

—  of  Sinchi,  sesthetic  value  of,  81. 

—  of  Sanchl,    observation  of   nature 

in,  81. 

—  railings  decorated  with,  10. 

—  passim. 

Seat  figured  xxvii-xxviii. 

Seleukos,   Gandhara  ceded  by,  to  Can- 

dragupta  121. 
Serpents  figured  107  (S4nchl). 
Shaddanta- jdtaka.  Essay  VII. 

—  chronology  of,  versions  of  the, 

196. 

—  figured  39    (Amarivati,   Barhut, 

Gandhara),  40  (Ajanta),  74  n. 
2  (Sinchi),  xxix  (Barhut  and 
Amardvati),  xxx  (Karam^r 
Hill,  Ajanta). 

—  narrated  in  the  KalpadrumiLva- 

d4na   and   StttrMamkira    198- 
199  n.  I. 
Shorea  Robusia.  See  fila. 
Siam,  Buddha  type  not  original  in,  115. 
SiddhArtha     Bodhisattva    figured    xxvir 

(Gandhara),  xxxvi  (Boro-Budur). 
Signacula  in  th .'  British  and  Cluny  Muse  urns 

II. 
Sikrl,  statue  of  H4ritt  from,  XLVii. 


Simhdsana,  Bodhi  represented  by,  148  n.  2. 

—  Buddha  represented  by,  19. 

—  figured  168  (Western  India),  176, 

XXXVII  (Boro-Budur). 

—  formed   of  superposed  animals  xxi 

(Ajanti). 
S!tA  represented  as  sister  of  RAma  45. 
SJVALi.  story  of,  52. 
Slab,  rectangular,  figured  gj  (S4nchi). 
Sleeves  of  tunic  xlvii  (Gandhira). 
Smallpox,  Deity  of.  see  Hariti. 

—  infants  protected  by  amulet  against, 

122. 
Sophocles,  Lateran,  and  figures  of  Christ 

and  Buddha,  136.  xvi. 
Speyer,  J.  S.,  Maitrakanyaka-avadana   at 
Boro  Budur  explained  by,  215,   243-4. 
Spoon,  sacrificial,  figured  98  (Sanchi). 
Spooner,  D.  B.,  Buddhist  punch-marked 
coins    tabulated    and    discussed 
by,  14,  21  n.  2. 

—  excavations  at  Sahri-Bahlol  by,  xiii, 

XIV,  XLVIII. 

—  Kanishka  stOpa  explored  by,  129, 
Stag,  Buddha's  birth  as.  See  Ruru-jitaka. 
Staff  of  mendicant  figured  xix  (Silrnath). 
Standard-bearer  figured    on    capitals    of 

gate  86  (S4nchi). 
Stein,  M.  A.,  excavations  in  Chinese  Tur- 
kestan by,  285. 

—  Hiriti  painting  discovered  and  des- 

cribed by,  285-6. 

—  photograph  communicated  by,  xlv. 
Stele  from  S4rn4th.  See  Essay  VI. 

Stool  figured  144  (Gaul  and  India),  164 

n.  I  (Ajanta),  272-3  (Central  Asia). 
Stdpa,  Afoka  form  of,  13. 

—  coins  marked  with,  14. 

—  figured  15,  89,90,98  n.  I  (Sanchl), 

237-239  (Boro-Budur),    iv-xix 
(Amaravatl),  Xix  (S4rnath). 

—  gate  of.  Su  Torana. 

—  origin  and  parts  of,  33. 

—  prominence  of,  in  Buddhist  archi- 

tecture 10. 

—  structure  of,  33-4. 

—  symbolizing    Parinirvina    18,    73, 

104    (of    seven   last    Buddhas), 
(SAnchl),  I,  II,  i78(Barhut). 


INDEX 
Smpa 


311 
Barhut,  Boro- 


See  also  AmarAvati, 
Budur,  Sanchi. 
SuBHADRA,  conversion  of,  figured  iv(Gan- 
dhSra). 

Sudhana-Kumdra  figured  xxxv  (Boro-Bu- 
dur). 

—  legend  of,  217-224. 
SuNDARi,  assassination  of,  183. 
Siitrdlankdra,  chapters  in  the,  number  of, 

200. 

—  fragment  of  the,  discovered  207. 

—  Shaddanta-jdtaka  in  the,  188,  194- 

5,  196,  198,  199,  200. 

—  Twin  Miracle  according  to  the,  155. 
Swan,  as  decoration  85  (Sincht)  xv. 

—  Buddha's  birth  as.  See  Hamsa-j4taka. 
Swat  River,  Naga  of,  converted  by  Bud- 
dha 122. 

Symbols  14  (on  coins),  69  (Sanchl). 


194- 


at. 


Ta-che-tu-luen,  date  of  the,  190. 

—  Shaddanta-j4taka  in  the,  i 

196. 
Takht-i  Bahai,  Great  Miracle   figured 
172  n. 

—  photograph  of,  xii. 
Tao-tii,  figured  l  (China). 

TArA  figured  on  the  Chandi  Mendut  265. 

—  image  in  Batavia  Museum  267. 
TAranAtha  on  the  Vajrasana  statue  259- 

60. 
Ta-t'ong-fu,  caves  of,  date  of,  115. 

—  Great   Miracle  figured   in,    166  7, 

XXI. 

Taurine  symbol.  See  Nandipada. 
Tawl^  amulet  case,  122. 
Taylor,  General,  visits  Sinch!  StOpa  63. 
Taxiia,  Heliodoros   native  of  See  Helio- 

doros. 
Teaching,  gesture  of,  xxiv  (Gandhira). 
Temiya-jdtdka  narrated  56. 
Throne.  Set  Simhisana. 
Thunderbolt  figured  91  (Sinchi). 
Tibet,  Buddha  type  not  original  in,  115. 

—  paintings  from,  xl. 

—  wheel  symbol  in,  26. 

—  See  also  Laiiiaist  images. 
TishyarakshitA,  wife  of  A(;oka,  ca.is  a 

spell  upon  the  Bodhi  tree  108. 


312 


THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART,  & 


Tsrunfl,  gate  of  Stflpa  railing,  33-4. 

—  See  also  Gate. 

Tortoise,   Antelope,    Woodpecker,    story 
of,  40. 

—  as  decoration  85  (S4nchl). 
Town  figured  239  (Boro-Budur). 

—  gate  of,  figured  ill  (Gandhara  and 

Amaravatl). 

—  of  Hell  246-7  (Boro-Budur). 

—  personification   of,    figured    174-5, 

III   (Gandhira   and  Amaravatl), 
XVII  (Gandhira). 

—  See  also  ^ravastl,  Kapilavastu,  Ka- 

pitha. 
Trailokyavijaya  figured  xliii  (Java) 

—  statuette  in  Batavia  Museum  267-8. 
Tree,  coins  marked  vi'ith,  14. 

—  figured  15-90  (SinchJ),  xxix  (Bar- 

hut), xxxv-xxxvil  (Boro-Budur), 
XLIV  (Chandi  Mendut). 

—  miraculous,  in  legend  of  Buddha  72. 

—  See    also   Bodhi    tree,    QSlIu,    Cam- 

paka,   Ficus,  Jambu,  Mango,  N4- 
gapushpa,    Nyagrodha  ,     PitalJ , 
PundarJka,    Shorea ,    Udumbara. 
Tsa-pao-tsang-hin^,  date  of  the,  190. 

—  Shaddanta-jataka  in     the,     187-8, 

194-196. 

Tumulus,  funeral.  See  StApa. 

Tunic  figured  with  sleeves,  xlvii  (Gan- 
dhara). 

Turban  figured  175  n.  2;  xxiv-xxv-xxvr 
(Gandhara). 

Turfan,  Madonna  figured  on  painting 
from.  See  YirKhoto. 

Tushita  heaven,  Buddha's  descent  from 
the,  92. 

—  —    figured  91  (Sancht),  xxxiv 
(Boro-Budur). 

Tutelary  Pair  in  Gaul  and  India.  Bssay  V. 

—  —    figured  XVII   (Gaul),   xvm 

(Gandhira). 

—  —    reason  for  worship  of,  143-4. 

—  —    relative  positions  of,  144. 

Udayaka  of  KaucambI,  sandal-wood  sta- 
tue of  Buddha  carved  by,  24  n.  1. 

Udumbara  tree  symbolizing  Kanaka-muni 
104  (Sinchi). 


Unicorn,  story  of.  5ceRishya5ringa-j4taka. 

Upananda.  See  Nanda. 

Upardja.  See  Viceroy. 

Uposhadha,  father  of  Mandhdtar,  226-7. 

Uryid  on  forehead  of  statues  119,  177. 
—    figured  177-8,  xxivxxv  (Gandhira). 

Uruvilva  figured  95  (Sanchl),  xl  (Boro- 
Budur). 

Ushnisha,  on  crown  of  Buddha,  figured 
119. 

UtpalavarnA  figured  in  Great   Miracle 
174. 

Vaifill,  importance  of,  in  early  Buddhism 

149.  n.  2. 

—  monkey's  offering  at,  figured  150 

XIX  (Sirnith). 

—  wood  near,  228. 

Vairocana  figured  256-7   (Boro-Budur). 
VajrapAni  figured  174,  in,  iv,  xxvii  (Gan- 
dhara). 

—  See  also  Trailokyavijaya. 
Vajrdsana  statue  of  Mahabodhi  259-66. 
Vajrasattva   statue  in  Batavia  Museum 

267. 
Vase  figured  xxiv  (Gandhira),  xliv (Chan- 
di Mendut). 

—  lottery,  figured  88  (Sanchl). 

—  two-handled,    figured  on    painting 

from  Central  Asia  274. 

—  See  also  Alms- Vase. 

Vessels  in  clouds  figured  238  and  n.  (Boro- 
Budur). 

Viceroy  figured  91  (Sinchl). 

ViQVABHU  symbolized  by  Qila  tree  104 
(Sinchl). 

VigvAKARMAN  in  Great  Miracle  171. 

Vifvantara-jdtaka  figured  74  n.  2  (Sinchi). 
—    located  in    Gandhira  xii,  123. 

ViDHURA.  Buddha's  birth  as.  See  Vidhura- 
jitaka  figured  55-57  (Barhut). 

Vidifi,  column  of  Heliodoros  at,  82. 

—  ivory-carvers  of,  67. 

Vihdra,  stele  in  form  of,  xxv  (Gandhira). 
Village  life  figured  96  (Sanchi). 
ViPAgyiN    symbolized    by    Bignonia    104 

(Sinchl). 
Virgin  Mary  suckling  Jesus,  date  of  ear- 
liest representation  of,  277-9. 


INDEX 


313 


Virgin  Mary,  Oriental   costume  in  art 

types  of,  276. 
VoGEL,  J.  Ph.,  identifies  with  Kuvera  the 

god  in  the  Tutelary  Pair  141   and 

n.  2. 

—  Lokapllas  identified  by,   173  n.  i. 

—  photographs  communicated  by,  xii, 

XIII  and  XLVii 

Water-vessel  figured   175  (Brahmi's  em- 
blem), XIX  (S4rn4th),  xxvii  (Gandhira)- 
Wheel,  coins  marked  with,  14. 

—  of  the  Law  figured  15,  88,  89,  90 

(Sanchl). 

—  —  —      I,  II,  iv(S4nchl), 
XIX  (Sdrnith),  xxviii   (Barhut). 

—  symbol     in    Gandhara,    Mediaeval 

India  and  Tibet,  26. 

—  symbolizing    First    Preaching    19, 

73,  248  n.  2. 

—  —        Great  Miracle  178,  180 
(Barhut),  180  n.  1  (S4ncbi). 

Wise  man,  Buddha's  birth  as,  44. 
Woman,  Buddha's  birth  as,  46. 

—  praise  of,  49. 

—  satire  against,  46 
Woodpecker,   Antelope  and  Tortoise   See 

Kurunga-miga-jitaka,  40. 
Worship,   forms    of,   depicted    80    (SSn- 
chJ). 

—  utensils  of,  figured  xxxviii  (Boro- 

Budur). 
Wou  -  k'ong  ,     Mahiprajnapiramitd-  sCltra 
associated  with  Jetavana  by,  149 
n.  2. 


Wou-k'ong,  Saddharmapundartka  associa- 
ted with  Gridhraktlta  by,  149  n.  2. 

YxgoDA  figured  xxxvi  (Boro-Budur). 
Yaksha  figured  220  (Boro-Budur),  iii,  iv 
(Gandhara  and  Amarsivatl). 

—  nature  of  the,  141,  280. 
YdksUnl  figured  70-1,  89-90  (S4nch!   and 

Barhut). 
Yama,  kingdom  of,  figured  91  (SJlnchl). 
Yamaka-prdtihdrya  confused  with  the  Great 
Miracle  156-8. 

—  described  152. 

—  hackneyed  by  use  IJ5-6. 

—  in  Gandhira  153. 

—  narrated  by  the  Jataka  book  (Intro- 

duction), Jltaka-mili,  Sutralan- 
k4ra,  Mahdvamsa,  Mah&vastu, 
Divyivadina,  155-9. 

—  why  not  preferred  to  Great  Miracl* 

in  stele  from  Sirnath  153-6 
Yslr-Khoto,  Madonna  figured  on  painting 

from,  271. 
Yavamajjhaka,  suburb  of  Mithiia,  51. 
Yi-TSING,  H4riti  image  described  by,  281. 

—  reports   M(lla-Sarv4stiv4din   pre- 

dominance  in    Malay   Islands 

2S3-4. 
Yoke- pole  figured  96  (SSnchJ),  xxix  (Ama- 

ravatl). 
YzERMAN,  J.  W.,  primitive  plinth  of  Boro- 
Budur  as  originally  planned,  discovered 
by,  208  n.  I,  213. 

—  Kinnara-jataka  identified    by,    242 

n.  2 


ADDENDA  AND  CORRIGENDA 


p.  5,  1.  22  :  For  a  earthy  »  read  «  earthly  ». 

P.  8,  n.  1.  2  :  For  «  kritya  »  read  u  krityd  ». 

P.   10,  n,  :  For  «  suta  »  read  «  sutta  n. 

P.  20,  1.  15  :  Insert  comma  after  "  there  ». 

P.  21,  n.  1,  1.  2  :  For  B  groupe  »  read  «  group  ». 

P.  26,  1.  5  ;  For  i>  has  »  read  «  had  ». 

»       1.  22  :  For  «  at  «  read  «  in  >>. 
P.  30,  1.  14  :  For  a  owe  however  »  read  «  owe,  however  n. 

»       n    I,  1.  I  :  For  «  Sd.  >>  read  «  ed.  ". 
P.  31,  1.  11-17  :  Need  it  be  stated  that  this  too  summary  view  of  karma  is  not 
an  altogether  correct  one?  If  we  judge  from  the  numerous  iarma-tales,  things  were 
supposed  to  be  much  more  complicated  and  less  mathematical. 
P.  33,  1   21  :  For  «  was  preeminently  >>  read  «  par  excellence  was  ». 

»       1.  29  :  For  «  harmika  «  read  «  harmihd  ». 
P.  36,  1    I  :  For  «  in  Indian  literature  not  »  read  «  not  in  Indian  literature  ». 
P.  37,  1.  15  :  For  «  or  if  »  read  «  or,  if  ». 

))       1.  16  :  Insert  comma  before  «  in  » . 

»      1.  20  :  Insert  comma  before  «  under  ». 

»       1    21  :  For  «  whom  «  read  «  which  ». 

»      1.  25  :  For  «  who  »  read  v  which  ». 
P.  40,  1.  6  :  For  «  ne -birth  »  read  «  rebirth  ». 

»       n.  1.  2  :  For  «  Saddanta  »  read  «  Shaddanta  ». 
P.  43,  11,  8-9  :  For  «  only  falls  to  them  »  read  «  falls  to  them  only  ». 
P.  46,  1.  16  :  For  «  these  »  read  «  the  above  ». 

»       1.  18  :  For  "  with  >>  read  «  in  ». 

»       1.  21  :  For  «  at  »  read  «  from  ». 
P.  47,  1.  8  :  Dele  comma. 

»       1.  22  :  Omit  «  back  ». 

»      1-2  3  :  For  comma  read  full  stop. 
P.  48,  1.  26  :  Omit  «  back  ». 
P.  49,  1.  12  :  Read  «  marriageable  ». 
P.  52,  1.  28  :  Omit  «  one  ». 
P.  56,  1.  31  :  For  «  Semiya  »  read  «  Temiya  ». 
P.  58,  n.  :  For  «  Saddanta  «  read  «  Shaddanta  «. 
P.  66,  1.  16  :  For  «  coins  »  read  «  coigns  ». 
P.  68,  1.  2  :  For  «  confreres  »  read  «  confreres  ». 
P.  69,  1.  25  I  For  «  according  to  »  read  «  from  >>. 

»       1.  29  :  For  «  only  serve  »  read  «  serve  only  ». 
P.  70,  n.  :  A  more  explicit  statement  of  the  point  here  mooted  will  be  found  in 
Les  Im'iges  indien'ies  de  la  Fortune  (Mimoires  concernant  I'Asie  Orientale,  I,  Paris, 
1913,  p.  131-4). 
P.  74,  1.  5  :  After  «  school  »  insert  «  in  order  ». 

»       n.  2,  1.  3  :  For  «  Saddanta  n  read  «  Shaddanta  ». 


ADDENDA  AND  CORRIGENDA  315 

P.  76, 1.  26  :  Read  «  explain  each  other  by  their  propinquity  ». 
P.  77, 1.  2  :  Read  «  in  order  to  pay  ». 

n       1.  18  :  For  «  this  »  read  u  the  ». 
P.  87,  1.  23  :  For  «  observe  »  read  «  obverse  ». 
P.  97,  1.  30  :  For  «  buffalos  »  read  «  buffaloes  >>. 
P.  98,  1.  25  :  For  «  fagot »  read  «  faggot  ». 
P.  107,  1.  25  :  For  H  buffalos  »  read  «  buffaloes  ». 
P.  116,  1.  24  :  For  «  south-west  »,  read  «  south-east  ». 

P.  119,  n.  :  These  Notes  on  the  ancient  Geography  of  Gandhdra  have  since  been 
translated  into  English  by  Mr.  H.  Hargreaves  and  published  in  Calcutta  (1915) 
under  the  care  of  the  Archaeological  Survey  of  India. 

P.  129,  1.  30  :  The  casket  is  not  made  of  gold  but  «  of  an  alloy  in  which  copper 
predominates  »  :  it  had  been  simply  gilded. 
P.  140, 1.  5-6  :  Read  «  occurrence  «. 
P.  143,  1.  32  :  Instead  of  «  or  four  »  read  «  for  our  ». 
P.  144, 1.  15  :  Read  «  paraphrase  ». 
Pi.  XVIII  (text  opposite),  1.  11  :  Read  «  Volkerkunde  ». 
P.  iji,  n.  I,  1.  I  :  Read  «  ihid.  ». 
P.  153,  1.  21  :  For  «  besides  »  read  «  indeed  «. 
P.  154,  1.  23  :  For  n  they  »  read  «  these  ». 
P.  158,  1.  I  :  For  a  eye  witness  »  read  «  eye-witness  ». 
P.  160,  n.  I,  1.  3  :  Read  «  which  (unfortunately  broken)  ». 
P.  162,  n.  I,  1.  6  :  For  «  motifs  »  read  «  motif  ». 

»        »        1.  II  ;  For  «  do  »  read  «  to  ». 

»      n.  2,  1.  5  :  Read  «  We  ». 
P.  164,  n.  I,  1.  9  :  For  «  rarety  »  read  «  rarity  ». 
P.  165,  n.  2,  1.  12  :  Read  «  carved  ». 
P.  167,  n.  2,  1.  I  :  Read  «  provenance  ». 
P.  169,  1.  6  :  For  <i  no  »  read  «  not  ». 
P.  173,  n.  I,  1.  5  .  Before  «  which  »  insert  comma. 
P.  176, 1.  12  :  For  «  ands  »  read  «  and  ». 
P.  177,  1.  22  :  For  «  beliewe  »  read  «  believe  ». 
P.  185,  1.  8  :  For  «  on  «  read  «  concerning  ». 
P.  189,  n.  I,  1.  3  :  For  «  Buddha  »  read  «  Bauddha  «. 

»        n.  2,  1.  3  :  Before  «  question  »  insert  «  a)>. 
P.  190,  1.  13  :  Dele  comma. 

P.  196,  1.  S  :  Insert  «  elephant's  »  before  c  teeth  n. 
P.  201,  1.  II  :  For  «  Fausboll  »  read  «  Fausb0ll  ». 
PI.  XXX  (text  opposite),  1.  12  :  Read  «  panel  ». 

»        1.  16  17  :  Read  «  represented  ». 

s        1.  19  :  Read  «  just  ». 
P.  205,  1.  II  :  Before  «  Progo  »  insert  «  the  «. 
P.  21S,  n.  2,  1  2  :  For  «  Gronemaan  »  read  «  Groneman  ». 
P.  216,  1.  4  :  For  «  Then  »  read  «  Then  again  ». 
P.  221,  11.  1-2  :  For  «  begins  by  presenting  »  read  «  first  presents  ». 
P.  241,  II.  4  and  5  :  For  «  on  »  read  «  in  a. 
P.  244,  I.  2  -.Read  «  identification  ». 
P.  351,  1.  8  :  For  «  on  »  read  «  in  ». 
P.  253,  1.  13  :  For  «  this  »  read  «  the  ». 


3i6  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  BUDDHIST  ART 

P.  267,  1.  19  :  For  «  rarety  «  read  «  rarity  d. 

P.  271,  11.  1 1-2  :  Omit  commas. 

P.  274,  1.  2  :  For  «  partners  »  read  «  playmates  ». 

P.  275,  1.  10  :  For  «  on  «  read  «  in  ». 

P.  279,  1.  7  :  For  »c  rarety  »  read  «  rarity  ». 

P.  283,  1.  7  :  For  «  suckles  »  read  «  sucics  ». 

P.  284,  1.  15  :  For  «  suckle  »  read  «  suck  ». 

P.  285,  1.  16  :  OmjV  comma. 

P.  286,  1.  II  :  For  «  hangs  in  folds  in  >>  read  «  descends  sinuously  to  ». 

P.  287,  1.  30  :  Peru  consequentially  »  read  «  consequently  ». 

PI.  XLIX  (text  opposite),  1.  i  :  For  «  wood-cuts  »  read  «  wood -carvings  ».  — 
These  two  statuettes  and  the  one  on  pi.  L,  2,  have  since  been  published,  with  three 
others  belonging  to  her  father's  collection,  by  Miss  Alice  Getty  in  her  very  inte- 
resting and  finely  illustrated  book  on  The  Gods  of  Northern  Buddhism  (Oxford,  at  the 
Clarendon  Press,  1914),  pll.  XXVI ;  XXVII  a  ;  XXIX  b  and  c;  XXXII  a  and  b. 


ANGERS.    IMPRIMERIE   A.    BURDIN.    —    GAULTIER    ET   THfiSERT   S".